Maximum Ride: Crossfire
by BoOk-NeRd38
Summary: Max and Fang didnt reunite after the fight in Germany. So what happens when Max has a normal life and a new family and she sees HIM at the movies? Will she take him back? Will someone else get in the way? T for safety.
1. Max POV

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It's been two years. Two years since I saw them. My other half. My best friend. My family. But I'm over them. I have a new family now. Zeke, Aaron, and Alex. After the battle in Germany, Fang, Gasman, and Iggy never met up with me, Angel, and Nudge again. Not that I need them. That's when we met them. Our new flock members. They have wings like us, of course, and they're all siblings. Zeke is the oldest, at 16, like me, and Aaron is 14, like Nudge is now. And Alex, oh Alex. She's so adorable. She is one year older than Angel, and just about as sweet as her. Of course, Angel is still my baby, and she could never be replaced. Unlike some people that just up and left without a goodbye, let alone a good reason. Don't get me wrong, I miss them like crazy, I just wish he had a good reason to leave in the first place.

"Hey, Max, what time are we leaving? Cuz I want to go soon cuz I'm meeting a friend and I don't want them to have to wait for me because they might get mad and then we might not be friends anymore and that would suck, big time! I mean, how suckish would it be not to have a friend? That would _so _suck! I-" of course, Nudge hasn't changed much. Her dark brown eyes stared up at me as she babbled.

"Nudge, breath. I don't want you to die of suffocation, okay?" I smiled at the teenager. She had grown up a lot. She was now wearing makeup and she had a boyfriend. She liked to straighten her unruly curly black hair, shocker, and she still loved to shop. We were headed to the movies to watch 'The Proposal'. We'd heard it was a hilarious movie and decided to go see it. But since Angel and Alex were too young, they were going over to a friend's house. We lived in Colorado, near our old house. It had been destroyed, when we finally found it again, but we wanted to stay in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. So we moved into a small town about 10 miles south of Denver, called Colorado Springs. It was beautiful. We had a nice little house that had been in foreclosure, and bought it pretty cheap. We paid it off fully, so we only had to pay for water and electricity. It was a two-story, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house and it was about 5 blocks from the schools. It was perfect. "We'll leave in 5 minutes, got it?" She nodded eagerly, and a grin lit up her face. She ran off, probably to finish her makeup or something.

I felt someone else's presence in the room. "What do you want, Zeke?" I turned around to face him. He smiled. He had short dark brown almost-black hair, defined cheekbones and big ecstatic blue eyes that stared into my deep brown ones with so much emotion. He was fit, tall, and actually really cute. Okay, I have to admit it, I liked him. A lot. I smiled at him.

"How do you do that? I mean, it's like impossible for me to tell when somebody else is in the room and you can just know who it is in a second? That's so not fair, Max." I laughed at his face. He didn't like to be shown up.

"I guess I'm just… special that way." I told him, smirking. We always joked about being special, since we had wings and powers and whatnot. I didn't want to mention that I had actually learned that trick from Fang. It would hurt me too much, plus Zeke never liked to hear about him, since he had broken my heart. I had cried on his shoulder so many times that there was almost a permanent stain on his shirts. He was my best friend, now. I didn't need Fang. I had my new family.

It was time to head off to the movies. "Nudge! Aaron! Time to go! Move it or lose it! You too Angel and Alex! Have all of your stuff ready!" I yelled up the stairs at the kids. About 10 seconds later we heard a stampede of footsteps down the stairs. First was Aaron, with his long black hair and emerald green eyes, who was a pretty cute kid who was really quiet. Next was Nudge, then Angel, who still had the same bright curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and last was Alex, with her lighter brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and her adorable greenish-blue eyes sparkling and a huge smile on her face. She and Aaron looked almost identical, though they were a few years apart. Brianna was her best friend and she was always so happy when she and Angel went over to her house. I smiled too, and they all ran out to the garage. Zeke had gotten his license, but I was too lazy to try and get mine. I'd rather just fly everywhere. No parking spaces, no traffic, no idiots blocking the lane… all those rules, too. I would never be able to remember those. Maybe, like 2. Stop at a red light and go at a green light. Plus, Zeke was happier being the only one who could drive. I have no clue why, but that's just his thing. Whatever.

So, we drove the few miles to Brianna's tiny house and Angel hopped out, Alex right on her heels. Brianna, a blonde, blue-eyed girl with small lips and was the same age as Alex, ran out and started jumping up and down with them and talking about what they were going to do all night. It was a Saturday, so they could stay up as long as they wanted.

"Bye, Ange! Bye, Alex! Have fun!" I yelled. Angel broke from the small pack and ran and hugged me, Alex following.

"Bye, Max! Have fun at your movie! We're going to have so much fun tonight! Bri's mom rented some movies and got popcorn so it'll be like we went to the movies with you guys!" Angel was turning into a real Nudge. Great. Just what I need. I hugged her one last time, and Alex, and then they ran off with their friend. I hopped back into the car and we headed off to the theatre.

As soon as we got there, I had a feeling that something was going to happen. I ignored it and got out, Nudge seeing her friend and running towards… him. Oh, just great. I was going to have to sit in between them, for sure. Or Zeke would, since he was extremely protective over Nudge. He was protective over all of us, actually. But especially Nudge. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glance at me and then at Nudge and her… friend. They hugged and then she turned back to motion us into the theatre. We got our tickets, and then got into the popcorn line.

"So, um, Nudge…" I glanced at her friend in an unspoken question.

"Oh, right. Um, Max, this is Zach. Zach, Max. And then this is Zeke, and Aaron. They're my family." She pointed to each of us as she said our names, and we all nodded at Zach in response. He had blonde hair and brown eyes, and I would have considered him cute, if I had been 2 years younger. We got to the front of the line and ordered 2 large popcorns and 5 sodas, for all of us. And then, we hurried to the theatre to watch our movie.

After the movie was finished, we gathered our trash and kind of skipped out, since we were all hyper from the sugary sodas and popcorn. Nudge couldn't stop blabbering about the movie.

"OMG wasn't that movie _so awesome_?! I mean it was sooooooo funny I couldn't believe it! That Mexican dude, Ramone, was _hilarious_!! I liked the end best when they were back at his work and they were talking about how they were naked and all their friends were grossed out, but they really had no idea what they were talking about and then the very end where the dude from the agency was asking them the stupid questions and they-" Nudge had _way _too much popcorn and soda.

"Okay, Nudge! Enough! Man you could power a building with how much energy you use talking!" Aaron finally got fed up with her rambling. We all laughed as Nudge pouted at being interrupted.

I really had to go to the bathroom after that huge soda, so I told our little group and we all headed over to the bathrooms they had in the theatre. After I came out, my heart stopped beating. Literally. My group had already headed outside, so I was all alone. As soon as I walked out of the bathroom, I saw someone I hadn't seen for a while. Two years, to be exact.

Fang.

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**BoOk-NeRd38**


	2. Fang POV

**Thank you so much to everybody who reviewed or added me to favorites!!! I'm so absolutely psyched right now that I'm going to update for all you guys!! I'm so much happier than you could ever imagine!! I didn't think this would do so well, but now I'm happier than ever!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everybody!! I hope you like this chapter!! It's in Fang's P.O.V, so I'm sorry if it doesn't really sound like a boy. ENJOY!!!:)**

**DISCLAIMER: None of the original characters are mine! Zeke, Aaron, Alex, Hayden, Brianna, and any other characters that weren't stated in the books are mine! And the plot is too. :)**

Two years ago, we left. Me, Gasman, and Iggy. Gone. Ari had to come in and ruin our family. Whether he was changed or not, he still ruined our family. I wasn't going to just let the person who had tried to kill all of us, especially me. I had no clue if he was dead yet, but I didn't care. He was a killer. He deserved to die. **(Remember, Fang doesn't know that Ari was Max's brother) **Besides, I didn't need Max. I had tried to show her how I felt, but she had just run away. I had given up after that. She didn't want me, that was for sure. And now, I didn't want her. I was over her. Done. I had new friends and family now. I had made up my mind long ago. I wasn't headed back to her, and I don't think she was either. We were just going to have to live apart.

"Hey, man, we going' soon? Cuz, you know, I'm meeting my girlfriend and, uh, I wouldn't want to spend any less time with her, if you know what I mean." Iggy hasn't changed much, as you can see. Still perverted. We had moved to Oregon after the Flock split, and we had stayed on the West coast and just wandered around for about a year. Then, we started moving east. And we had just kept on moving East, city to city, until we found a place we really liked. Colorado. There was a small town near the Rocky Mountains that we liked. Greenwood Village. It was about 3 miles away from Colorado Springs, where we went to get most of our food and go into town for shopping and movies and all that wonderful stuff.

Iggy's girlfriend, Michelle, was just a brunette bimbo who thought Ig was hot, so she went out with him for… intimate reasons. Not that I knew they did that, it was just kind of obvious with the way she acted around him. I had never really liked her, but I did think she was hot. But, of course, what guy can't say that most girls they see are hot? It's just a guys' brain, programmed to like what they see.

"Where's Gaz and Miranda? They're coming too, right?" Miranda was another mutant, with wings, like us, and she was Gasman's age. They obviously liked each other, but they were the only ones who couldn't see it. Miranda had long brown hair and light brown eyes. She was short, and not quite as tall as Gazzy, who was about 5'7" now. They were both 14.

"Yeah, I think they were going to meet some friends and watch a movie too. I have no idea what though. I just wanna go see a movie with my girl, okay Fang? Can we go soon?" Iggy's impatient voice was extremely irritating.

"Whatever, man." I shrugged it off, and he was about to say something when I yelled upstairs to the other two. "Gaz, Miranda, are you guys coming to the movies with us? We're leaving in 3 minutes!"

We had found a house in our little town that was 2 stories tall, with a basement, and it was abandoned. Not condemned, but abandoned. It apparently had gone into foreclosure, and the owners moved out and nobody else had moved back in. It was about a block from the little grocery store, and that was very convenient since we didn't have to whip out our wings every time we needed milk. We all had our own rooms, but we had to share two bathrooms. Not that us guys needed it as much as Miranda did. We went to school like normal kids, and we had friends and homework and everything else that a normal kid has. Except for parents, and normal kids didn't have wings grafted into their backs. But it was close enough.

"Hey, Ig, what movies are playing?" I asked the red-head, who was off daydreaming about his girlfriend, most likely.

"Uh, I think the Proposal, Monsters VS. Aliens, X-Men, and uh… I don't know. Some stupid chick flick that nobody cares about." He shrugged it off and went back to daydreaming. _Whatever, maybe I'll go see X-Men while the others go their own ways. _I thought.

"Gaz! Miranda! Let's hit it!" I yelled upstairs. I heard four feet stamping down the stairs, and we headed out back. We had no neighbors, so we jumped into the air and unfurled our wings. The only thing that had changed about our wings was that they were bigger. Mine were now 15 feet long, Iggy's were the same, Gazzy's were 13 feet, and Miranda had 12-foot wings. After about 5 minutes of flying, we saw the movie theatre in the distance. "Okay, guys, start descending! Land behind the back and we'll get our tickets!" The roaring of the wind was so loud I had to yell to be heard. We landed and put on our windbreakers.

We walked around front, acting innocent like we had just come off from the sidewalk and taken a shortcut. We walked up to the line for the tickets, and then I heard Michelle's squeaky voice calling Iggy. I pretended I didn't hear, and then nodded at her as hello. She was too busy making out with Iggy to see though. I paid for the tickets, Gazzy and Miranda running off to find their friends and watch their movie, while Iggy and Michelle went around a corner in the theatre to "wait" for their movie. I got a bag of popcorn and sat down on a bench, waiting for the right time to head into my movie.

After about 10 minutes of just sitting there, I started to get a weird feeling in my stomach. At first, I thought it was the popcorn. But then I realized what it was: it was my gut telling me that something big was going to happen. I didn't care, it was probably out of whack from not being really used for so long.

I went into my movie and watched it, munching my popcorn all through the movie. After the movie was over, I headed out to wait for the others. I sat down on the same bench as earlier, and finished the last few bits of my popcorn. I had gotten a large, okay? I was hungry. I stood to throw it away, and the trashcan was near the bathroom. Then my gut went crazy. I looked over at the entrance, then to the bathroom, and thought I recognized someone. Then they turned around, and their eyes got huge and their mouth hung open. Then I realized who it was. Someone I thought I hadn't needed, but now realized I did.

Maximum Ride.

**HEY!! So, feedback? Sorry if this sounds a little rough and kind of short, but its kind of late but I really wanted to give you guys this chapter!! So, REVIEW!! Thank you, again, to everybody who reviewed last time!! I'm so excited to see what you guys have to say!! Flames, suggestions, ideas, criticism, anything is welcome!! JUST PLEASE REVIEW!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!:D**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	3. Runaway

**Okay!! Here's the next chapter for all of you wonderful people!! Thank you so much for reading!!:)**

I turned away. I couldn't believe he was here. I started walking as fast as I could, so as not to draw attention, but he just started following me and calling my name quietly. I pretended not to hear him and started walking faster, now almost running. But he was still following. I could see my group outside the front doors, and I started running. Now Fang was almost yelling at me. I shoved through the doors and burst out by my family.

"Nudge, Zeke, leave! Now! I'll meet you at home just leave and make sure nobody follows you!" I told them, and they looked confused yet determined. I knew they would do what I said.

"Wait, Max what's happening? I-" Zeke just couldn't follow orders. I ignored him and ran towards the back of the theatre, desperate to get away from the guy who had ruined my life.

"Max! Wait!" I heard both Zeke and Fang yell. That was weird. I didn't care though, I just kept running. I sprinted around the corner and into an alley behind a dumpster to fly away.

"Stop! Max! Come back!" Now it was only Fang, but I could hear two pairs of feet running towards me. I jumped into the air and whipped out my wings before I hit the wall of the alley. It felt amazing to stretch my wings. I heard another _fwip! _as someone opened their wings too. I looked behind me to see Zeke trying to catch up, Fang not far behind him. I couldn't let Fang catch me.

I switched into hyper-speed. I flew as fast as I could away from Fang, and Zeke, and my whole family. Maybe even Gazzy and Iggy. After a while, I started to cry. It was too much. He had broken my heart, and I had never really gotten over it. Yeah, I told everyone I had, but deep down I knew I was lying to make myself feel better. I slowed down, positive that they weren't anywhere close to me, and realized I really had to go to the bathroom again. And that I was hungry. And tired.

I noticed a town down below me, and dived down behind a McDonald's. Sure, their food is kind of disgusting and extremely fattening, but it was cheap, and I only had about 5 bucks. So, I went to the bathroom, and got 2 Big Macs and a side of fries. I ate in silence, taking my time and chewing slowly. When I was done, I threw away my trash and went back behind the alley. I flew away, thinking about how far away I had really gotten from my home. Then I saw a sign down below. It was almost impossible to read, but it said Dubois, Idaho. I had gotten almost 3 states over, in about 20 minutes of flying.

I didn't feel like rushing home, so I flew at a normal pace, about 150 mph. I knew that I wouldn't get home until tomorrow, but I didn't want to stop and call them. I needed time to think, and I couldn't stop for a pay phone. So I just flew home.

Fang P.O.V

She was walking away. And pretty fast, too. So she had seen me, I knew that. But did she want to? I wouldn't know unless I asked, and she seemed to be going pretty soon, and so I followed her, matching her pace. She picked it up, and so did I.

"Max. Max. _Max. Max! _MAX!" I kept calling her name, but she never turned around. By now she was jogging, and I was running, trying to catch her. She sprinted out the doors and yelled to someone. Then one of them started following her, and then I noticed that the group had Nudge and some other people I didn't recognize. The person following her was a boy, and for some reason that made me mad. I ran faster, still yelling her name. Nudge had ran away and was in the parking lot with the other people, but I wasn't watching them. Max and the kid ran behind the theatre and a few seconds later I heard wings whipping out. I turned the corner fast enough to see Max shoot into hyper-speed, and she was gone. I whipped out my own raven-black wings, and I noticed the other person had wings too.

"Who are you? What did you do to Max?" The kid yelled at me.

"I didn't do anything! You were chasing her, too! And who are _you_?" I yelled back at him. Who did this kid think he was, yelling at me for chasing Max when he was closer to her than I was?

"My name is Zeke, and I'm Max's friend. And you are?" this guy -Zeke- didn't seem like he was Max's friend. He seemed kind of hostile, at least towards me. But she could have changed in the last two years.

"Fang. I'm part of Max's flock." I wasn't sure if I still was, but it was better than saying 'I'm Fang and I have no idea what I am to Max anymore.' Much, much more impressive. Zeke's eyes widened, and then his expression grew murderous.

"_You're_ Fang? _You're_ the guy who broke her heart so bad she could barely put it back together? Who took half of her family away from her because of some stupid _Eraser_ that was bound to _die_?! How could you?! Didn't you know what you meant to her?! And now, she hates you. And I'm glad for that. Because she doesn't need you! She had her own family now!" he looked like he was about to kill me.

I was speechless. Normally I just chose not to say anything, but now I was speechless. She had cared for me that much? I had broken her heart? Well, she had broken mine too. And Ari was going to die? Well, we all saw his expiration date, but you never know if it could have been a scam to get him inside the flock to kill us. He could have killed them all. Was he dead yet? Probably, if this Zeke kid had said die like that. Max hates me? If she really did, I couldn't handle that. I knew I had done the wrong thing leaving her for two years, but it had seemed like the right choice then. And what did he mean by her own family? She didn't have a kid, did she? Was it that group that was outside? Probably, because Nudge was there. I wanted to see her and Angel so bad now. Wait, where was Angel? Had something happened to her? Was she gone? All of these questions were unanswerable, without Max. I wasn't going to ask this guy, since he seemed about to murder me.

I turned away from him. I felt something wet on my cheek. I was crying? I never cried. Not even when Ari almost killed me did I cry. And now I was crying over Max and all of this? Pathetic. I swooped down to the movie theatre again. I saw Gazzy sitting on a bench talking with Miranda, and then I saw Iggy walk out of his movie with Michelle, his lips kind of red and swollen.

"Fang, are you… crying?" Gazzy asked, his tone tick with disbelief.

"We're leaving. Let's go." I turned and walked out the doors, ignoring them and walking on my own. Went behind the theatre again, but didn't see Zeke anywhere. I took flight, and I heard the others do the same. Iggy had left Michelle on a bench. I flew home as fast as possible, the others talking about me to each other and trying to get me to talk, but I just ignored them. I flew home, thinking about how I was going to get Max not to hate me.

**So…? Good or bad? Flames welcome, anything that's a review is awesome!! I love you guys, thank you everybody!! I'll update as soon as I can, but I have some family coming in this weekend so I might try to get another chapter in tomorrow. Thanks again, bye!:)**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	4. Its Been A Looong Day

**Hey everybody! I felt like I needed to give you guys this chapter since you are so awesome. Thanks to all the people who reviewed, and added me as alerts and everything! It has really boosted my confidence. :) So, I have some family over this weekend, so I'll make this kind of a filler chapter and I might not be able to post again till Sunday. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel are not mine! They are James Patterson's, and same as all of the other things found in the book. I only own the plot and my own characters.**

I swooped down, low to the ground, as I finally spotted our house in the distance. I flew as fast as I could, without going hyper-speed, and I almost flew right past it I was going so fast. But I braked and landed just in time. And fell flat on my face. Not a very graceful landing. It was about 9 pm, and I was finally back home after my little flight. To Idaho. I was exhausted. I slumped into the house, as the sun was just going down and it was getting chilly. As soon as I opened the door, I was tackled by 3 figures that were screaming my name. Nudge, Angel, and Alex. Apparently somebody had called them and they had skipped their fun night at Bre's. Now I felt bad for having taken that away from them.

"What are you doing here, Angel, Alex? I thought you were at Bre's?" my voice was hoarse from not being used for a while and breathing in the thin air. I sat up, and Nudge helped me over to the couch to sit. It felt so good after my flight, I almost fell asleep right then. Angel sat next to me and looked at me with sad eyes.

"Nudge called us after she got home and told us about Fang. We had no idea where you were, so we came home so we could look for you. But we never found you, so we just stayed up because we knew you would come back. Max, we were so worried! And I would always give up a day with my friend if you needed help." The last part was so quiet I could barely hear it. She had read my mind when I was thinking about it. It brought tears to my eyes. She would give up a normal life for me? She was so sweet. I hugged her and held her tiny body to me, then kissed her forehead. _I love you, sweetie. _I thought to her. She nodded a little, and I felt a tear roll down my cheek. Man, what was it with this crying thing? How could something so little make me cry, when I used to be able to break an arm without crying? Oh, right. Fang broke my heart.

_He just wants to see you again, Max. He misses you. _Angel's tiny voice sounded in my head. Fang missed me? Well, it kind of made sense since I missed him too, but it still shocked me. I kissed her forehead again, and then stood up. "It's time for bed, all of you. I'm wiped, so I'll see you in the morning."

"But, Max, its only 9 o'clock! We don't need to go to bed till-"Nudge, being a teenager, didn't want to go to bed early. Typical. I turned around and looked at her with my Don't-you-dare-argue-with-me-or-you'll-regret-it look. She shut up and they all ran up to their rooms and I heard the doors slam, but I didn't do anything.

I slowly walked the steps to my room, and when I opened the door, I saw Zeke on my bed. He was waiting for me to come in. he smiled as I entered, and I gave him a little smirk back. I needed him right now. He was my comfort, my best friend. I grabbed my P.J's and went to the bathroom to change. When I came out, he was still sitting there, watching me.

"Are you okay, Max?" He said softly, quietly. I nodded slowly, and sat down to lean my head on his shoulder.

"Fang's back." Was all I needed to say. I knew he would understand.

"I know. I met him." His answer surprised me, and it had a murderous tone to it.

"What? You did? How?" I was curious how he got to know Fang well enough to hate him when I had never been able to get him to barely talk, much less spill things that would make someone hate him in only a few hours.

"He was chasing you. We were both in the air when you took off, and then we started talking. I told him how he broke your heart and he flew off. Simple as that." It didn't seem that simple. And why would Zeke tell him he broke my heart? That's personal!

"Why did you say that? Its personal, Zeke!" I couldn't believe he would do this. It didn't seem like him.

"I… just really wanted him to know how he hurt you. He should be suffering right now if he has a heart. He shouldn't have done that and he knows it." There was an air of finality to his words, and I didn't argue anything. I just nodded, and then fell backwards to lean my bed. I moaned at how bad I was feeling, and how bad this day was going. "And… I wanted to…" what was Zeke going to do? He was now leaning over me, and getting closer with each word he said. "... Feel like I could still have a chance…" he took a deep breath and leaned in even closer, his eyes locked on mine. He wasn't going to…? "… To do this." And he leaned in…

And kissed me.

**Hahaha CLIFFY! Well not really but it's kind of a small one. :) So, like it, love it, want some more of it? Anything is welcome!! JUST PLEASE REVIEW!! I WILL BE SO SUPER HAPPY IF I GET 5-10 REVIEWS!! Can you do that? For me? PLEASE?! :D**

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**BoOk-NeRd38**


	5. A Day With Hayden

**Okay, so I have time tonight to add another chapter. And, just so you know, there will definitely be Fax in this. Just not yet. I need to have some Meke, or Zax, or whatever you want to call it, just to get Fang jealous. And it might seem like it goes fast, because I want to get to the Fax too.:P So, ENJOY!:)**

**Disclaimer: James Patterson owns all of the original characters! Only Zeke, Alex, Aaron, Miranda, Hayden, Brianna, and the plot are mine!**

I walked in the door to our house, then went strait up to my room. I needed to call my friend, Hayden. Even though she was a girl, she was still my best friend. She knew me inside and out, but not in THAT way. She was just my friend. We had tried to go out for about a week, but it didn't work too well. We had been best friends since me, Ig, Gaz, and Miranda had moved here. I dialed her number in the phone, and she answered on the fourth ring.

"Yeah, Fang? What's up?"

"Hey, um, Hayden, can I meet you somewhere?" I would much rather talk to her in person than over the phone. Face to face is much better.

"Yeah. What happened? Where do you want to meet?" she was definitely worried, but she knew how weird I was about talking personally on phones.

"The old park. The usual. 20 minutes?" It was a tiny little patch of grass and a swing set, but it was great for talking.

"Yeah okay. See you then, Fang." She was obviously curious as to what had happened. She knew all about Max and how she had left me. But I had just told her we had just broken up and she had moved states. Instead of flying away to a completely different country. I laid back on my bed for a minute, and then got up and opened my window. I scribbled a little note to Ig in case he needed to find me, and jumped outside. I flung out my wings, again, and flew high into the air. I breathed in deep.

I was pretty shaken from seeing Max, and then she had to run away. I was going to find her. I needed to. To make sure she was still Max, still safe, and maybe, just maybe, to somehow get the flock back together. I was thinking hard about what I was going to do, when I saw the park below. I swooped and landed in the small woods nearby.

As I walked out, I could see Hayden walking towards the park, looking for me. She had long dirty blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. She had her bangs clipped back, and she was wearing a T-shirt with Cat in the Hat on it and jeans. I jogged over to her. She smiled when she saw me, and then she obviously remembered why we were here. Her smile disappeared and she ran over to hug me. I froze, and then hugged her back a little.

"Fang, what happened?" She pulled back to walk over to the swing set with her. I could see the worry in her eyes.

I took a deep breath. "It's Max. I saw her today."I looked at the dirt beneath the swing.

"What? Where was she? Did you talk to her?" As you can see, Hayden liked to ask questions.

"Yeah. She was at the movies in Colorado Springs. And I didn't exactly talk to her… she sort of, ran away. Apparently she didn't want to say hi." I laughed once, without humor, and stared at the dirt below me. I felt Hayden's hands on my shoulders, then snake around my neck in a backwards hug.

"I'm sorry, Fang. That's horrible. Where do you think she lives? Because I would _love _to give that girl a piece of my mind for messing with you!" She sounded serious, too. I chuckled a little bit.

"Hay, you don't have to do that, I can handle her. I just need to find her. She meant everything when we were… together. I thought I was over her, but when I saw her… something changed. I felt lonely and… like I was missing something inside. I just… I don't know why though." I had spilled all of my feelings to Hayden more than once, and she completely understood. She had a bad relationship once, and it had scarred her forever. So, she had dealed with this before.

"It's okay, Fang. I know how you feel." She took a deep breath. "After a while, you just learn to deal. To forget. And then you move on." I could hear the sadness in her voice, especially since it was right near my ear. She was still hugging me from behind, her chin resting on my shoulder.

"You know what, Hayden? I don't want to forget about her. I just want to talk to her. I mean, she never really gave me a chance before we… split. I just want to be able to give it a try, now." I really did. I just needed to find her and get her to talk to me.

"Really, Fang? That's great. I mean, to want to go back to someone who broke your heart takes guts. And I think that's really cute, too. To want to give love a second try. It almost makes me want to go back to my boyfriend. If only he hadn't cheated…" she sighed, and squeezed her arms again in another hug, then backed off. She walked over to her swing and sat down. I got up, and started pushing her back and forth on the swing. She turned halfway and smiled at me, and I smirked back. I kept pushing her higher and higher, until she started laughing.

"It feels like I'm flying! It's amazing being up this high, Fang! You should try it!" and she laughed again. _Oh, I know how it feels. More than you think. _I thought. I hadn't told her about my wings yet, and I didn't plan to. She could tell the police or something. And then we'd get all famous and then some psycho agency would try to capture us again. It would just be too much to handle. I just smiled at her.

After Hayden was done with swinging, we decided to head out for ice cream. We hopped in her car and she drove down to the "Super Scooper". We loved to joke about that little shop's name, but we loved their ice cream. It was all home-made, and it was amazing. I got my usual, a double scoop cookie dough in a sugar cone, and Hayden got an Oreo cookie in a sugar cone. We sat down in a booth and started talking. We talked about random things, like what homework was due at school, and why the teachers were so mean to us, and how amazing the ice cream was. We were just joking around, and I was trying to forget about our semi-unfinished conversation from earlier. It was all going great, until the door opened. I didn't care about who it was, but then I heard a gasp.

"Fang?!" I turned, and there was Nudge, eyes wide, mouth hanging open, and some kid standing behind her that I recognized from the group at the movies. Great.

**Do you like it? I know it seems kind of weird with the whole Hayden conversation not getting really finished, but I couldn't think of anything else to say. Review and tell me how it is!! If I need to change a few things just tell me and I'll try to fix it.:) Thank you for reviewing and adding me as alerts everybody!! I can never thank you enough!:) I'll try to update on Sunday or Monday, or as soon as I can. REVIEW PLEASE!!**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	6. Fight, Nudge, Meeting

**Okay! Sorry I couldn't update sooner but like I said, my family was here. And also my brother was breathing down my neck to see what I was doing, and do you know how awkward it is to have your brother reading what you're writing, especially when its about kissing. :P well, here's the long-awaited chapter with Max and Zeke.:) ENJOY!**

My brain was officially shorted out. Zeke was still kissing me, and it was actually kind of nice. I hadn't been kissed for over two years, since Fang had kissed me in the cave. Like that was any comparison to how I was being kissed now.

Zeke was almost forcing my lips to kiss him back, and I was just sitting there frozen. But then his hand moved up to my hair and tangled there, pulling me closer to him. His tongue slipped across my bottom lip, and my head plummeted back to earth from it's little place in heaven.

I jerked back, and there was a tiny popping sound as our lips pulled apart. His hand was still tangled in my hair, and his eyes were wild and confused. And he was laying on top of me from our position earlier. Let me tell you, it was awkward. I gulped. We were both breathing kind of hard, and my mouth was open a little, because my lips were tingling. I cleared my throat.

"I can't do this, Zeke. Not again." It was barely a whisper. Fang had ruined my life because he had kissed me and I didn't want it. I couldn't let it happen again. I gently tried to push him off of me, and he kind of slid onto the ground, looking dejected.

"Oh, um, okay… if that's how you feel, Max. I'll just go then. Leave you to your…business." He let out a long sigh, and got up to leave.

"Wait, Zeke. It's just… I don't want what happened with me and Fang to happen to you and me. Best friends, then one gets feelings and then everything just gets messed up. That's a lot of the reason me and Fang split, okay? I just don't want to go through that again, put the girls through that…" I sighed and looked down at the carpet. Zeke turned back around. His eyes looked mad.

"That's why you won't kiss me? Won't let us be together? Because you don't want to get hurt? You don't want to repeat what happened with _Fang_? Well, Max, I'm not Fang. I wouldn't leave you no matter what! It doesn't matter if you brought home my worst enemy, or anything, I wouldn't ever leave you! _No matter what_! And I love the girls too, and I would never do that to them! They deserve better than that Fang guy! I'm better! I can help you Max, we could be a great couple, but no! You're too scared you're gonna get hurt!" Now he was mad. So, so mad. He was yelling. And I didn't even do anything wrong! Now I was mad. I started yelling at him.

"Oh, so now it's _my_ fault? It's _my_ fault that somebody broke my heart and I'm scared that it might happen again? How is that _my fault_? Besides, _you're _the one who kissed _me_! Who said I ever even _wanted _to kiss you? How would you know if I had feelings for you? Well, what if I _didn't_? would that be all my fault too, and make you think that you're not good enough? Well, maybe you aren't. At least Fang was gentle. At least he acted like he actually cared about me. That he didn't want to hurt my feelings. That he didn't want to rush me into a stupid relationship!" I screamed at him, and ran over to the window to fly out again.

"Wait right there, Max! I'm not done! And you're not flying away from me again!" Zeke came over and tried to grab my hand and pull me back, but I twisted his arm behind his back and pushed him onto the bed, where he started rolling around in pain. I think I dislocated his arm, maybe…

"So you think you're the boss of me, too? Well, I'm the leader. And there is nothing, I repeat, _nothing_, that you can do to change that. Although _you _may not be finished with _me_, _I'm_ finished with _you_." And with that, I opened the window and flew out into the cold air.

Fang P.O.V

Nudge was so different. So, so different. She was a teenager now. A full blown teenager. She was giggling with her friend, a boy with blonde hair and brown eyes, and another boy with black hair and green eyes.

I was openly staring at them, at how grown-up Nudge looked. I guess the kid with black hair noticed eyes on his group, and he turned around to look at whoever was looking at him. Paranoia, maybe. He spotted me just as I looked away, and I know I was caught. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him whisper something to Nudge. By now, Hayden was looking at me weird. She looked around, and then it got interesting.

Nudge spun around in a slow circle, and I could tell exactly when her eyes spotted me. I braced myself for her squeal. "FAAAAAAAANNNNNNNGGGGGGG!!! OMG!!!! IT'S ACTUALLY YOU!!!!!" she ran over to me and Hayden's booth, and she practically jumped on me. I smiled and stood up to hug her. I couldn't help it. She was bouncing up and down in my arms, and it looked like she might even cry. "Fang I cant believe its you! I mean, I knew you were in Colorado, but I didn't know I would see you and I was hoping I would but I didn't know where you were and then yesterday when Max saw you at the movies I was so excited that you were here and I wanted to-" Man she really didn't change much on the _inside_. She was still bouncing up and down and hugging me, and I noticed she was almost as tall as me. I saw the store clerk look at us with disapproval, and I guided Nudge outside. She barely seemed to notice. She just kept talking, and talking, and talking… like the energizer bunny, on a sugar high.

"Okay, okay, Nudge, I get it! You can breath now!" I laughed as she stopped and tried to breath. She hugged me even tighter. After she had caught her breath, she spoke in a very quiet, serious tone.

"Fang, we missed you so much! You wouldn't even imagine how many times Max cried herself to sleep about you! Me and Angel, too. But you hurt Max the most, Fang. I think she loved you." Her big brown eyes stared into mine, and I felt like they could see right through me. I let my emotionless mask fall.

"I'm so sorry, Nudge. I didn't know what would happen when I left. I thought it was for the best, when Max-" I choked out her name "- when she let Ari come with us. Speaking of him…?" I didn't want to really ask if he was dead, I so I let my sentence fall. She nodded slowly, then spoke in a whisper.

"Fang… he was Max's brother. Actually, half brother but still…" what? Max had a brother? Ari was Max's brother? Did she find her parents? What had happened while we were gone?! I gulped. Now, I felt horrible for splitting us up. I just couldn't believe it. I shook my head.

"No way. I shouldn't have… why did I… I could have… ugh!" I hated myself right then. I could have helped Max through all of these times, but I had split us up and made her suffer all by herself. Or was she all alone? I spotted the other two that had been with Nudge. "Did you make some new friends, Nudge?"

She laughed, breaking the serious streak. "Well, yeah, you could say that. The one with Blonde hair is Zach, and he's my friend. And the other one… well, he's Aaron." She lowered her voice. "He has wings, too, Fang. We found him, his brother Zeke, and his sister Alex after our battle in Germany. You know all about that, right?" I nodded. I had researched it on the internet and tried to keep track of where they were, and what trouble they might have caused that would get them in the news, so that I could check on them. "Good. One less thing to explain to you. Fang… do you want to see Max? and Angel? And everybody else? Because I'm sure they would be glad to see you…" her eyes couldn't lie. They said that she was telling the truth, and she couldn't wait to have the whole flock together again. And neither could i.

"I would love to, Nudge. I need to get Gazzy and Iggy, too. They would be thrilled to see you guys." I smiled at her, and her eyes lit up and the biggest smile spread across her face. She nodded excitedly.

"Fang? Fang?" I heard Hayden's voice coming out of the ice cream shop and remembered why I had been in the ice cream shop in the first place. I pulled away from Nudge and she grabbed my hand. I ws thinking the same as her : it could all be a dream, and we might not have been real.

"Hayden, I'm over here." I called back, then I heard her footsteps coming closer. Nudge looked at me like "Please tell me she's not your girlfriend!" I smiled and shook my head, and she breathed out a sigh of relief. Hayden's blonde head came bobbing around the corner. She saw Nudge's hand in mine, and her eyes widened and flew right up to mine. She was thinking "This isn't Max, is it?" Again, I smiled and shook my head.

"Nudge, Hayden; Hayden, Nudge." I nodded to them as I said their names, and they both nodded at each other. Then we heard boy's voices calling.

"Nudge, we gotta go! Come on!" the voice was whining about her not being with them. she giggled.

"Coming, Aaron! I'll be there in a sec!" she turned to me. " 5 o'clock, tomorrow night, at this address. Don't be late, okay? And look nice!" she scribbled an address on my hand, and gave my hand another little squeeze. "I can't believe I found you, Fang. I can't wait for tomorrow!" then she ran off to Aaron and Zach.

Hayden was looking after her, and then she turned to me, her face with a huge grin on it. "Looks like you've got a date tomorrow." She giggled, and I rolled my eyes. Then I walked over to put my arm around her, and we finally went home. I couldn't wait till tomorrow.

**Okay!! So… like it? Love it? Hate it? Anything? REVIEW!! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!!! **

**And I know it seems kind of weird, but I wrote it in kind of a rush and I'm so tired. But, it's Monday. I'll try to update tomorrow, or maybe the next day, since this chapter was so long it counts as two, practically. :P almost 2,000 words!! That's amazing! :O anyways… REVIEW!!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!!!! I LOVE THOSE!!! AND I LOVE YOU!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYBODY!!!:D**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	7. Preparations

**Okay, sorry it took so long to update, but I've been really busy this week. Homework, then volleyball, and all that stuff. And, though I hate to admit it, I have a little bit of writer's block. So, I'm just going to make it up as I go along… hope you like it!:) And I'm sorry about any mistakes or weird sounding sentences, just tell me if you see something I need to change.:) Reviews are much loved!!**

**Disclaimer: James Patterson owns Max, and her flock, and all previous situations not included in this story. I only own the plot and my characters.**

I kicked a rock, and it flew about fifty yards. But now my toe hurt. It was much better than the mental pain, though. I had flown about an hour, normal speed, and south of Colorado. I had ended up near the border of Texas. It was warm and humid here, and it made my hair frizzy. But the heat was better than the Colorado cold. It helped me think.

I was thinking about everything: Fang, Gazzy, Iggy, Zeke, our home, Nudge, Angel… and so on. I had been here about two hours, not including the flight here. I was walking around a small park, and through a tiny town with gravel roads all around. I kicked another rock, and it flew high into the air.

_No matter how far you fly, you can't run away from your problems, Max. _Of course, the Voice chooses now to interfere.

_Technically, I'm not_ running _away from anything. I'm flying away from it._

_Max, you can't escape them. They're your family, and no matter how hard you try, they're always going to come back around._

_What if I didn't want them around? Would they disappear then?_

And of course, the Voice didn't answer. I sighed and kicked another rock. _Maybe I should head back now, or else it'll be dark when I get home…_

I sighed again, this time sinking down onto a log that was on the side of the road.

Why did it have to be me that got wings grafted into their back? Why couldn't it have been someone else getting chased by Erasers? Did I have to stay in this lifestyle with not knowing if I was going to sleep in my bed the next night? I didn't think I could handle it anymore.

_You are who you are, Max. Never forget that. People love you and wouldn't want life any other way._

_I never said you could go all fortune cookie on me. Not that you were ever anything other than cookie-man…_

_Don't be so childish Max. People count on you for their lives, don't let them down._

_What's that supposed to mean?_

No answer. Of course. I sighed, yelling as I let out my breath in a big _whoosh. _I sat on the log for about five more minutes, and then finally decided to go home. I jumped up and flipped out my 14-foot wings, and took to the cool sky, a smile on my face. It was always so peaceful to be up in the air, only you and the occasional bird, and the clouds, the air, your thoughts… your friends, your life, your decisions…

Your family. I switched to hyper-speed. Nudge, Angel, Aaron, Alex… Zeke. Fang. Iggy. Gasman. They were my family, and I wouldn't let them be left alone. I was their leader, and I was going to take care of them. But I had to find Fang, Ig, and Gaz first. I missed them. Especially Fang. Though I wouldn't admit it, I loved him. I always had. And that's why I couldn't kiss Zeke. Fang was still the dominant person in my heart. And I would find him. No matter what.

Fang POV

As soon as I got out of the shower, I told Gasman where we were going. It was 3 o'clock, and I was going to see Max.

"What?! We're going to see Max and Nudge and Angel!! No way! I haven't seen them in so long! Angel! My little sister! I haven't seen her in two years!! I can't wait! What should I wear, Fang? Something nice, something casual, something… I don't know, happy? Dark? Strange?" Gazzy was almost as bad as Nudge when he got excited. I chuckled.

"Whatever you want, Gaz. Probably something casual… whatever you think you should wear, kid." I smiled at him, and his face lit up like he was a five year old on Christmas. He ran off to his room. Such a cute kid. I put on my black jeans and a black T-shirt, as usual, and started brushing my teeth. I couldn't wait to see Max, and Angel, and even Nudge. Maybe even their new friends. Well, maybe not the kid from the theatre, but that was inevitable. If they were Max's friends, then so be it.

I was jumping up and down on the inside, and that was _extremely_ rare. Like Max would never be a ballerina, I was never a jumpy person. So it was a little scary to me, that I would be so excited over this. Yet, I hadn't seen them in two years, so I guess it was appropriate… the phone rang. I picked it up.

"Yes, Ig?"

"Hey, man, when are we meeting Max and Nudge and company? 'Cuz I'm kind of stuck here at work and I can't get off until 4 at least… think I could still make it? I really don't want to be late… I really miss them dude. You know?" Iggy could talk a lot too. I chuckled.

"Yeah, Iggy, you could make it. But it'd probably be fine if you were a little late, and all… Yeah. I know Ig. We all miss them. That's why we're going to see them, right?"

"Yeah, sure, man. Hey, I got to go, we got some customers. So I'll call you if I'm going to be late or not, okay? I know the address, and I'll just meet you there at about 5. See you then, man." I could hear the smile in his voice. I chuckled.

"Yeah, man, see you then. Bye." I hung up, and went to go finish getting ready.

When I was done, about 20 minutes later, Gazzy and I headed out. We followed our sense of direction to their little house in the suburbs, and we finally landed on the dead end f the street next to them. It was about 4:45, and I was ready to see Max and Angel, and Nudge again. Gazzy and I walked up to the doorstep.

"You ready, Gaz?" I asked him. He was pretty grown up, for a ten-year-old. He smiled hugely, and nodded excitedly. I smiled back, and took the last step forward to the door.

And I rang the doorbell.

**Good? Bad? Horrible? Loved it? Hated it? Anything? I need feedback! I love how many reviews I've been getting and I hope we can maybe get some more! Think you can? REVIEW!!! THEY MAKE ME SO HAPPY!!!:D So, review, please, and make me really happy and it'll make me update sooner!!:) Thank you for all your reviews and adding me as faves and alerts!!:D**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	8. Reunion

**Alright, so my mom has to go on a business trip next week, and she has to take her laptop with her. So, I won't be able to update till about Friday or Saturday… so I'll give you 2 chapters tonight, and maybe another tomorrow before my mom leaves. To tide all of you awesome people over until my mom gets back!:P Anyways, I left you with a cliffy last night, so I'll update that now. :D **

**ENJOY!!:)**

Nudge POV

I was in my bathroom, putting on my makeup, and waiting for Fang to get here. It was 4:38, and I knew he was going to be here right on time. But Max wasn't back yet. Now where had she gone? She just kept disappearing and not coming back for hours. Who had done what now? I hadn't seen Zeke walking round the house either… he was just locked up in his room, not talking to anybody. Angel had tried to get him to come out, but he didn't. He had blocked his mind, too. Although Angel's powers were as strong as ever, she still couldn't get through Max or Zeke's mind blocks.

My eyeliner was smeared along my eye, and I wiped it off. I had been wearing makeup since Max had let me, and that was only about 3 months ago. I was now a pro at applying it, and I had even gotten Max to let me put some on her once, but she had just pushed me out of the bathroom and washed it all off in the shower afterwards. Even though she had looked beautiful with it on…

I looked at the clock. 4:43. I smiled, and finished my makeup. I walked out of the bathroom and up to Max's room. I knocked softly. "Max? Are you in here? I need to talk to you…" I heard something shut in her room, and jiggled the door handle. Locked. "Max? Hello? Are you there?" I asked a little louder. I heard quiet footsteps, and then the door handle moved. The door squeaked open, and there was Max, finally. Her hair looked windblown, like she had just come in form flying.

"Yeah, Nudge? What did you need?" She had an nonchalant mask on, and I could tell something was troubling her.

"I need you to get dressed in something presentable. And quick. There's a surprise." I smiled as I was talking. He was finally going to be here! She looked very confused, and like she was going to ask a bunch of questions, but I shook my head and pushed into her room. I dug through her closet until I found the only skirt she owned, a black mini-skirt which I had only seen on her once, when she had tried it on in the store. Then I found another thing that I had only seen on her once: a bright yellow, low cut tube top. In the store, she had looked absolutely amazing in it. But she hadn't wanted to buy it, yet I had managed to slip it into her pile when we were checking out. I smiled hugely, like the Cheshire cat. I turned around and stuffed the clothes into her hands, then shoved her out the door and into the bathroom.

"Change! Now! And don't you dare fight it, Max!" I gave her my "don't even try to argue with me, or I will kick your butt" looks, and she glared at me.

"But Nudge-" I crossed my arms, still staring at her. She stopped short and finally shut the door to change. I smiled as soon as it closed. I checked the closest clock. 4:52. Almost time! I heard Max shuffling around in the bathroom "Nudge I can't believe that you picked this out! There is no way I'm wearing this! I don't even know why I'm supposed to be changing! Why exactly _am_ I changing? What is happening Nudge?" Apparently, she was done changing, so she flung the door open to stare at me in question. Although I was the one who couldn't stop staring at her. She was gorgeous! Her hair was wavy and falling over her shoulders in small curls and framing her pretty face. The tube top framed her awesome curves and the yellow made her skin tone look golden. She had those long, lean legs that every girl wanted, and the black skirt peeked out just below her shirt. My mouth was hanging open in a little "o", and I think my jaw was on the ground.

"Max, you are _gorgeous_! You have no idea how… how… _amazing_ you look! When they see you… wow. Just, I mean… wow. Any girl would _die_ for your beauty Max! How did you get so beautiful?!" I couldn't think of anything else I could say to describe her. When Fang saw her… and even when Zeke saw her. They wouldn't be able to stop staring. Max blushed a deep red, and looked at her feet. Then back up at me.

"Nudge, I would like to know why I'm dressed like this and who is coming over-" she stopped short and gasped. Apparently, she had figured it out. I bit my lip. "No. _Way_. Nudge what did you-"

_Ding-dong._

The doorbell! I smiled at Max, and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Literally. She was slowly shaking her head no. I shrugged, as if to say "I couldn't help it." Then I grabbed her hand before she could shut the door and change her clothes. I dragged her down the stairs and let her hand go at the bottom, then ran to the door. I looked behind me at Max, who was just standing there with an astonished and confused look on her face, as if she didn't know whether to stay or run. I turned and grabbed the door handle, yanking it open quickly so she didn't have a chance to run. I smiled.

"Hi, Fang."

Fang POV

The door swung open, and there stood the smiling figure of Nudge.

"Hi Fang." Her happy face made me smile, and I saw that Gasman was extremely excited to see Nudge again.

"Nudge! It's really you!" I saw a flash of blonde hair, and then Nudge and Gazzy were rolling around on the floor laughing and hugging, and Nudge was almost about to cry. Something yellow in the corner caught my eye, and I looked over. My mouth dropped, and my eyes almost popped out of their sockets. There was Max, in a yellow tube top and a mini-skirt. But she didn't look like Max. she looked like an angel. She was more beautiful than I had remembered, and she was blushing. I smiled at her, and she caught my eye. Those eyes I hadn't looked in for two long years. I stepped in and walked towards her. Apparently, she knew she couldn't run away from me this time, especially since she was standing at the bottom of the steps.

"Hi, Max." I whispered, and I thought I saw some tears in her eyes.

"Fang…" she breathed, and she walked closer to me. She was definitely about to cry. She took the last two strides toward me and flung her arms around my neck. "Oh, God, Fang, I missed you so much. I'm so sorry I left you and I wish I would have found you and…" she was sobbing now, and I held her tighter. She was so warm, and I hadn't felt this whole for over two years. It was like I had gotten back a part of me that I hadn't really known I'd lost. She pulled back.

"It's not your fault Max. I left you, not the other way around. It was all my fault, and I'm so sorry about that." I truly was sorry that I had left her. She didn't deserve that. She shook her head.

"For arguments sake, let's just say that it's both of our fault, okay?" she chuckled a little bit, and hugged me tighter. "I missed you so much, Fang. You wouldn't even understand." She whispered into my shoulder. I started rubbing her back how she had liked it, back then.

"I missed you too, Max. I won't ever split us up again, I swear." I whispered into her hair, and she smiled against my shoulder, nodding slightly, then pulled back to look me in the eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted.

"Max! I can't believe it!" Gazzy's voice yelled right behind me. She looked over my shoulder and her eyes lit up and she smiled. Then she pulled away from me, leaving my arms empty. Nudge came over to give me a hug.

"Gazzy! Is that you?" she ran over to give him a hug, and she picked him up to spin him around. Even though he probably thought he was too old for that kind of stuff, it was Max, whom we hadn't seen for two years. As I have said, what, twenty times now? Anyways, Gazzy was laughing like a maniac, and Max looked happy to see him too.

When they were done giggling and spinning, she turned to me. "Where's Iggy?" I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was fearing that he was dead. I shook my head.

"He had work, and he said he was going to meet us here when he got off. Don't worry Max." I reassured her. Then, I heard footsteps. Tiny footsteps coming down the steps, then a little blonde head bobbing down. Angel.

"Fang!!" she screamed. I bent down, and she ran into my arms. I lifted her up, like Max had done with Gazzy, and spun her around. "I missed you so much! I can't believe it's you! Really, really you! Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" She was squealing happily, and clinging to my neck. I laughed.

"I missed you too, Angel." I hugged her tight one last time, and set her down. She caught sight of her brother, and ran over to him. They were hugging and laughing, as all of us had done. Then the doorbell rang again, and Max opened it to reveal a smiling Iggy. His eyes widened when he saw Max, and yes I mean saw. He had gotten his sight back, slowly but surely. He had only had full vision for about a month now, and he was definitely loving it. Especially the way he was checking out Max, which made my stomach turn. Though I really had no idea whether Max could have a boyfriend… but I would figure that out later. Iggy hugged Max, and I noticed his hands were a _little_ low, if you know what I mean. I gritted my teeth.

There were many more hugs and catching up, and all of that jazz. Yes, I just said that. I am a very different person inside my head…

_I can tell, Fang. And I've missed it._ Angel's sweet little voice invaded my thoughts.

_I missed you too, sweetie. You and your little outbursts of what we were all thinking…_ she giggled inside my head, and out loud. I smiled at her, and we kept going on with the mushy hugs and kisses. We ordered some pizza and sat down on their couch to watch TV and catch up more.

After the pizza was gone (all 8 boxes), and Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel were all spread out and tangled over each other, passed out. Only me and Max were up. She motioned with her head upstairs to her room, which they had shown us earlier on a little tour. We tiptoed in and shut the door, Max sitting on the bed, and then laying her head on my shoulder when I sat down. I put my arm around her back and started massaging her wings.

After a few comfortable minutes of silence, I broke it. "So, why did you want to come up here?"

"I just missed you, and I really wanted to talk to you. Or just sit with you, after so much has happened…" she lifted her head up and looked me in the eyes. Her soft, dark brown eyes were boring into mine, and I thought I would melt at how beautiful she was. She had changed, that was for sure. And then, as if some force was pulling us, we leaned closer, both of our eyes closing automatically. I could feel her warm breath on my cheeks as we got closer and closer, and I so wanted to just kiss her, and not wait for her to move closer, painfully slowly.

And then the door opened.

**Hahaha CLIFFY AGAIN!!! Sorry I just couldn't help but leave it there. I wanted to make something big happen. But is it moving too fast? Because I wasn't planning to have this part in here for a little while, but it seemed like it fit in here, too. So, like it? This chapter might seem a little weird because there really isn't that much dialogue, and I couldn't think of anything else to add. Review and tell me how you like it!! This is an EXTREMELY long chapter, so I expect A TON OF REVIEWS!! PLEASE??? I love them so much!!! Thank you to everybody for everything, and I hope you liked this chapter!!:)**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	9. Catching up

**I am soooo sorry it took me this long to update!! I didn't mean for it to be this long but I really had a huge writer's block. I couldn't think of anything, and I still cant really, but I'll just kind of make it up as I go along today. I felt like I was abandoning all of you, and I felt really bad. And some of you have guessed who is at the door already. Yes, it was very predictable… and sorry if it's a little bit confusing. I'm kind of sick and I had a long day. And so, here you go, chapter… 9?**

**ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: JP owns Maximum Ride and all of the past characters in the books, I only own my characters and the plot line.**

"Zeke!" I yelled as I stood up and pushed Fang back. He fell onto the bed with a surprised expression, like he was just clueless. Zeke stood in the doorway, his eyes like little slits.

"What is _he_ doing here Max? And on your bed, none the less. I thought you hated him? That he broke your heart and you never wanted to see him again? What about all of those nights you fell asleep crying on my shoulder because of him? What about that?!" He yelled at me. He was mad about something that I couldn't control! Nudge had told Fang to come here, not me! I stepped towards him, ignoring Fang who was trying to get my attention for something. He was still sitting on the bed confused about this situation.

"Look, Zeke, I didn't plan for him to come here tonight, and I had no clue until Nudge played dress up!" I motioned to my current outfit. "I don't know what your problem is, but he is still my family. I still missed him and I would like to talk to him for a little while! Or maybe you're just jealous because he can be in my room without me kicking him out, is that it?" I snarled at him, and he just stepped forward closer to my face with a menacing expression. Not that it bothered me. He spoke quietly, almost in a whisper.

"I am _not_ jealous. Why would I be jealous? You pushed me away. I don't care anymore. You made it clear that you don't care either. So why don't we just move on with our lives and forget about that whole thing, okay? Problem solved." He said it like a joke, and he didn't sound like he didn't care anymore. He was glaring at me, and Fang was just sitting on the bed staring at us, trying to figure out what was going on.

"It's not that easy, Zeke. I see that you _do_ care, and that is _not_ problem solved. You care _a lot_, and we can't really move on with this in the way, can we? So why don't we just settle this thing right now, once and for all. Be a man about it, why don't you?" I was teasing him, and it was working. He felt like a wimp, I could see in his bright blue eyes. He was trying to hide it with a mask, but I could see right through him. I smirked; I had won.

"It is problem solved, and that is final. Forget it, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm done with all of this drama that you keep giving me. Stay with him in your room, I don't care. I'm going out for a fly." He turned around and slammed my door, shaking the whole house. I felt guilty because he was one of my best friends. But he was getting on my nerves ever since we saw Fang at the movies. And since he kissed me. I took a deep breath and let it out. I turned to Fang, who was leaning against my headboard with an expression that clearly said: care to explain? I sighed and looked at the floor, but nodded. I moved to the bed and sat down, crawling to the other side of Fang in the middle of the bed. I put my head on his shoulder, and closed my eyes. I could feel him watching me.

"The other day, when I saw you at the movies… why were you there, anyways?" I started. I was avoiding this as much as possible, because who wants to tell an old best friend that you kissed somebody else?

"I was dropping off Iggy and Gazzy to watch some movies with their friends. Go on, please, Max." He wasn't going to fall for my little distraction trick. Dang.

"Fine. Zeke came home… and I'm guessing he met you?" I tried another little distraction trick to buy time.

"Yeah, we met. Go on, Max. I'm not going to let it go." He looked at me with that "don't argue" look.

I breathed out in a huff. "Ugh. Fine. So he met you, and I was a little… freaked, to say the least." I laughed once without humor. To my surprise, he took my hand to hold it in his own. His hand was warm and calloused, and I liked the feel of it in my own. He squeezed my hand, and I squeezed his back. I had missed him so much.

"I flew down to… Texas, I think it was. When I came back, Zeke got kind of mad. He… he was talking to me and…" I felt Fang tense up a little bit under my head. This was awkward, to say the least. "He kissed me." I whispered. Fang tensed up even more, and his hand loosened. I grabbed his hand tighter, holding it to reassure him for something, anything. "I pushed him off, and he got mad, again, and I flew off and… it's just messed up, Fang. We're such good friends and when you left I just… broke down. I'm so sorry about this…" I choked, and his hand tightened on mine. I turned and buried my face in his shoulder, smelling the musky smell I had missed for two years. "Fang, I missed you, so much. More than you could ever think."

"Max, you have no idea what you did to me. When I left, I went crazy without you. I had no idea how hard it was for you to be the leader, to take control like you did. I tried my best, but I never could have done as good as you. I really missed you, too, Max. I can't believe I just took off like that because of Ari. It was so stupid of me…" he sighed, just like I had.

I looked at him. I looked him in the eyes. They were so brown that I could barely see his pupils, just like his hair. I put my arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. I felt like a girly-girl, but I didn't really care. Fang was back. I felt his arms slowly come back around my waist, and I hugged him as tight as I could, not wanting to let go.

"Don't leave me again Fang. I was a mess." I was starting to choke back a sob, even though it was really girly. But I couldn't help it.

"I won't Max. Not ever. I promise." He whispered into my hair. It was so un-Fang-like. He pulled back and smiled at me, just a little bit. One of those "it'll be okay" smiles. I smiled back at him, and kissed him on the cheek. I thought I saw a little blush on his cheeks!

"The mighty Fang is blushing?" I pretended to gasp and be a girly-girl. He glared at me, and I started laughing. He rolled his eyes. Almost like old times… almost.

**Okay, this definitely isn't my favorite chapter. I know I can write better, but I just had no ideas for this chapter, and that's why I haven't updated in so long too. So, please give me some suggestions or anything that might help for the next chapter. I'll try to update in a few days, but I have so much late homework its crazy. I love you all!! REVIEW PLEASE!!!:)**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	10. Nightmare

**Okay, I'm sorry its taking me so long to update now but I will have a lot more time to update now that volleyball is over, and I was pretty much stuck. So, REVIEW IDEAS!!! I NEED THEM!!! anyways, tell me if this chapter sucks because I have no good ideas for this part… so, ENJOY! **

**Disclaimer: JP owns Maximum Ride.**

"No!" I screamed. I bolted upright in bed, dripping sweat off of my face and everywhere else on my body. I was breathing harder than I could ever remember. The last image was burned on the back of my eyelids, so I couldn't close my eyes.  
"Max! What happened?" Fang ran into my room, Angel and the rest of my family not far behind. I heard a whimpering noise, and I soon noticed it was me. I pulled my knees up to my chest, rocking back and forth on my heels.

"Max! Max?" Angel read my mind and started crying.

_We were running. Running so fast I couldn't feel my legs. But I couldn't slow down, or else they would catch me. I risked looking behind me, and I could see their glowing red eyes closing in, faster and faster. I pushed my legs, pumping them as fast as they would go. I dodged a branch, then jumped over a log. I heard Angel scream, and I looked around, distracted. I didn't notice the root, and my foot caught in it, bringing me face first into the dirt and a bush hit my stomach and knocked the breath out of me. I heard their pounding footsteps get closer and closer, and I tried to scramble up. My foot was twisted in the root and it was holding me there, trapped. I twisted and squirmed, but it was too late. A furry paw grabbed my foot, making me shriek. "Angel! Fang! Nud-" I tried to tell them to run, but another furry paw stuffed itself in my mouth, cutting me off and making me inhale the horrible dirt and stench that was on it. I gagged and spit, trying to get it out of my mouth, but the thing belonging to the hand just cackled and hefted me up. I felt ropes wind around my wrists and ankles like rough, scratchy snakes. I squirmed as much as I could, but that just earned me a kick in the side. I lifted my head to see the forest, and I could just barely make out the outline of two of my flock running as fast as they could. _Run baby, run! Don't let them get you! _I thought towards Angel._ Max, they have you! I won't let them take you! _She thought back at me. _Don't worry baby, I can take care of myself. I'll escape, and I'll find you as soon as I can. Just get out of here! And make sure nobody follows us! _I could hear her quiet sobs through our mental connection, but she agreed and ran off. My captors were kicking me and trying to make me get up, but I was still stuck. Finally, one of them noticed and hefted me up, but only after they had their fun with beating the crap out of me. I groaned as they loaded me into their helicopter, and they tied me down to the floor. As I flailed, or tried to, they laughed their heads off and kicked me. When my legs were going numb, somebody finally put a bag over my head and I felt a needle prick my neck, which made me freak. It didn't last long though, since I was out in a couple of minutes._

_I woke up sore and felt like a cripple, and my back was against a freezing cold surface. I took a deep breath and instantly gagged. Antiseptic. The School. I was back, no doubt about it. My breaths were coming faster and faster, and I tried to break free of the bands around various parts of my body. I moved my head around after I had tried for about ten strait minutes of trying to break free. The room was white, like every other room, and it brought back horrible memories of torture and pain. There were three other slates like the one I was laying on, and there was a door to the left. Nothing else. _

_Suddenly, the lights went off and my bed lifted up to a vertical position. The far wall lit up to show an extra room behind it, with nine metal slabs. Each with a member of my family on it._

"_Noooooooo!!!!" I screamed, so high pitched it hurt my own ears. How had they gotten there? what was going to happen to them? my scream echoed in the room, and I saw Fang and Gasman start to stir. My eyes started to well up, but I held my tongue to stop them. I wouldn't cry. They wouldn't hurt my family. I screamed at them, trying to get their attention. I thrashed until my arms and legs and everything else was raw. I wouldn't let tears fall. Then, the lights got brighter and a door opened to the left, and an eraser and 2 scientists walked in. They looked at the window, towards me, and smiled wickedly. The erasers ugly faces looked menacing and their teeth were oozing something nasty. They started laughing which, though I hated to admit it, scared me. One of the erasers, the bigger one, walked up to Iggy and turned to smile at me even more wickedly, and he started cackling. He lifted up Ig's head, and he stirred. He blinked, and by the time he figured out that he was strapped to a table and an eraser was standing before him, he was being slapped across the face with the claws digging deep into his skin. He let out screams of pain, and I screamed with him. It felt like the eraser was clawing into my heart with every swipe he took at Iggy. He clawed at him, until every part of his body was covered in blood or gouges. He was screaming, but it was weakening. Iggy was dieing. I couldn't handle it, and I started crying my eyes out. I didn't care though, I just wanted them to stop hurting him. Iggy went limp, and the eraser moved on to Gasman. He killed him the same way, and by now I was hysterical watching my family get killed before me. "Noo!" I screamed, over and over. "Stop it! Stop it!" I was screaming through my tears rushing down my face, and my throat was getting sore. I kept yelling, but I soon just broke down and lay there wimpering. One after another, the eraser took out my family, and they all went limp. Angel was the hardest to watch, my little baby. Her high pitched shrieks rang through my mind, staying there and ricocheting in my head, over and over like the worst song getting stuck. They made me watch until everyone was gone, and the scientists and the eraser were cackling madly every minute. Suddenly, the doors opened and the scientists and eraser disappeared, and I was suddenly staring at an ugly, hairy, smiling face. The last thing I saw was a paw slicing at my face, and I was bolting up in bed, screaming._

"Max! why aren't you answering?" Fang, Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy, Angel, and the rest of my family were crowded around me, trying to get me to talk. I just shook my head, crying, and Angel crying with me.

**Okay. So, I think this chapter is extremely dark and depressing, and definitely not my favorite. But, tell me how you like it and any other ideas that I can use in future chapters. Please, I need the ideas. I don't think this chapter fits in very well, but just say that she fell asleep and this was her dream, okay?:) So, REVIEW PLEASE!! I NEED THEM!! Plus, they make me really happy. :D**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	11. Emotions

**Hey everybody!! I am SO sorry I haven't updated in so long! It's just that I didn't have a very good idea to come after that big dream, so I was debating on a few. I promise I'll update next week, since it's Thanksgiving break. ( :D ) I REALLY NEED IDEAS!! IF YOU HAVE ANY, PLEASE REVIEW!!! And, sorry if this chapter is a little weird. I didn't know how to put this whole chapter… but ENJOY!!:)**

**Disclaimer: JP owns Maximum Ride, I don't, I only own my characters.**

I sat at the table, staring out the window. Why had I had the dream? Was it a sign? Was it a vision? Was it going to happen? I didn't want to think about that last one. I shivered, from head to toe, though I had a hot chocolate in my hands and a blanket around my shoulders. I hadn't talked to barely anybody but Angel and Fang for two days. Even then I had barely said anything to them. I was huddled in a corner of my mind, fearing the worst and staying away from everybody like they were going to burn me. Fang, Iggy, and the Gasman had stayed at our house for a while, and their friend Miranda had come to join us. I wasn't too fond of her though, since all she did was blabber about pointless things and flirt with Gazzy.

I sighed and took another sip of my now-room-temperature hot chocolate. Nudge walked in and sat down in the wooden chair next to me.

"Max, why are you so quiet?" she whispered, and I could feel the pain in her voice, see the worry in her eyes. I just shrugged. "That's what I mean, Max! It's like we don't matter enough for you to care about us and talk to us! I feel like we're losing you, and I don't want that to happen! Max, please, please, please… come back." She was yelling, and by the time she was finished she was starting to cry. Her deep brown eyes glinted with the tears swelling, and I felt genuinely guilty. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I set down the hot chocolate and scooted my chair closer to her, and put my arm around her shoulders. She started bawling, and I held her close to my chest, her sobs racking her small frame.

"I'm so sorry, Nudge. I just don't want it to happen to you, and I don't really know why I've been so quiet," I whispered into her hair. "I feel like, if I stay close to you, I'll just lose you. I don't want to push you away; I don't mean to. It's just hard for me to get over that dream and realize that it won't be true. I just need a little bit of time, okay baby? I'm so sorry…" I hugged her closer to me while I spoke, and she started to calm down a little. Then, she was crying harder than before. She was wailing and struggling to get out of my arms, and I let her go and leaned against the seat.

"You're lying! You won't get better! You're just telling me that so that I'll go away! You don't care about us! All you care about is yourself, your stupid mom and your stupid sister! All you want is to live until your expiration date shows up, and then you'll just leave us to fend for ourselves, without you! You don't understand what you mean to us. We need you; you're our leader, our _mother_! Without you we'll all just crash and burn! The _world_ will crash and burn, and _you won't care_!" by the end, she was screaming. I was so shocked, all I could do was sit there staring at her, tears streaming down her face and an accusing look in her eyes.

"That is not true Nudge! I will never leave you! I won't ever not care! I can't just not care. " I stood up, angry at her for accusing me of no caring. "I need you as much as you need me! If you were all gone, I wouldn't be able to survive! I've been so out of touch because I feel like I am losing you. Like I don't know who you are, who I am. I need to find myself, and I need you to help me. All of you. and that dream made me feel like you were all gone, and I can't bear that! It'd be too much…" I looked down at my feet, imagining what that would be like. No, imagining what a_ fraction_ of it would feel like. I could feel the hot tears threatening to fall, and I let them. I was too weak to stop them, and I just needed to let them out. "I love you, all of you. everybody. Family. And I can't lose you, any of you. Ever. You mean the world to me, Nudge." I looked at her face, and she was still crying, but not as heavily. She shook her head a little, and then ran towards me and almost knocked me over in a hug. She squeezed me until I was sure I was going to suffocate. But I still hugged her back, just as hard.

"I l-love y-y-you t-too Ma-ax!" she couldn't get any more than that out, she was crying too hard. But now they were tears of, not joy, but not sorrow either. They were just tears. They were streaming down my face, too. It felt good to just let them out and not have to worry about being strong. I guided her over to the couch, and we just kind of collapsed and held each other there for a while.

I had missed her so much, since the boys left. It had felt like a part of her was gone, and now she was finally coming back. She had been closed off to us, staying in her room and caring more about makeup and boys then me and Angel. Of course, she was still talkative and loving, but just not as much. And, this was the first time she had said "I love you" since the boys left. She had usually said it all the time.

Fang walked into the room, saw us on the couch, and his eyes got a little wider. Only enough for me to notice, but still. I held her until we had both calmed down, and Fang had stayed in the room, only leaving to get a box of tissues and a glass of water. Angel also came down, and she sat on my lap, in between us. We sat there for who knows how long, silent, and communicating through Angel since neither of us trusted our voices.

After the sun had set, Nudge stirred and we all broke apart, the weep-fest over. Now that I had no more tears left to cry, I felt guarded. Like that was my show of emotion and I couldn't show anything else. But I forced my mask to drop off. Iggy made a dinner of ravioli and salad, and I talked more than I had in two days. Miranda still did most of the talking though. I could tell her and Gazzy had a relationship-thing going, since they were obviously holding hands under the table and flirting with each other non-stop. But I was happy that he had found somebody to be himself with, since she had wings too.

I went up to my room after we had watched about an hour of TV, and got ready for bed. I just laid in bed for a while, staring at the ceiling, and wondering how this had happened. How I had found Fang and the boys, the dream, and now this whole Nudge thing. She had been so distant, and so had I, but now we were fine… I thought about things like this for too long, and then the door opened just a crack. I knew it was Fang, since no one else could be that quiet and stealthy.

"Come in, Fang."I said. I looked over expectantly. The door opened slowly, and he stepped in, clad in his usual black pajama pants, no shirt. I couldn't help but glance at his well-toned abs as he moved over to the other side of the bed and sat down. Then, he just stared at me with a thoughtful gaze. Soon I couldn't stand the silence. "Well?"

"What was that whole thing with Nudge about?" he asked. I sighed. I knew he was going to ask that.

"Just lay down. It's a long story." And he did. I could feel the warmth emanating off of his skin as it was so close to mine. I took a deep breath, and told him everything. Everything about how I had felt when he was gone, how Nudge had grown apart, how I met Zeke, Aaron, and Alex, everything that had happened. And somewhere in the middle, his warm, calloused hand was holding mine, intertwining our fingers and making me truly feel whole again, plus some. I felt a warm fuzziness in my stomach when I looked at him (his face, not his chest, people) and I couldn't identify it. We talked for hours, about how our lives had changed and what had happened, and what we thought would happen next. We were both laying on our side, facing each other, staring into the other's eyes. Those deep brown eyes I had missed for two years.

Soon, we fell asleep.

**You likey? It's a very emotional chapter, and not really my favorite. If you haven't noticed yet, I'm not so super with the whole conversation stuff. I usually screw up, and I can never think of anything to say. So, sorry if it sounds a little weird. And I just had to put that mini bit of FAX in there at the end. Don't worry, it'll get better. I'm still trying to figure out where I'm going with this… so if you have any ideas, any AT ALL, please, don't hesitate to review! **


	12. Change

**Hola peeps. How is everybody? I would really like to know. **** So, R&R this chappie, and tell me how you like it. :D**

**ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: James Patterson owns Maximum Ride and all his characters, not me. (Though I so wish I did)**

"Max! Max!! Where are you?" I heard, awakening from my slumber. I blinked and looked around. It was mid-morning, and the sun was blinding through the window. To my right, I saw a familiar face. Fang had his brown eyes shut, and he looked calm and peaceful in his sleep. His eye twitched, and footsteps sounded through the door. He blinked, and his chocolate eyes fluttered open. I diverted my gaze, and then the door burst open. "Max! Are you in-" Nudge slammed in, making both me and Fang jump and turn towards the door. "Here." She finished, embarrassed at barging in. "Um… Iggy is making breakfast… and he's wondering how you want your eggs…" she mumbled, staring at her feet. I swung my legs off my bed and stood up, stretching my sore muscles. Fang did the same a few seconds after me.

"Tell Ig we'll be down in a minute." I said, and Nudge nodded and ran downstairs. I looked at Fang, and saw a flicker of a smile. I gave him a quizzical look, and he just shook his head. Huh. Weirdo. My clothes were wrinkled, and I went over to get new ones from my dresser. I took out a T-shirt and my favorite jeans, and turned to see Fang still standing there. "Um, can you, kind of… leave? 'Cuz I need to change…"

"Embarrassed about a boy in your room when you're changing? That doesn't seem very leaderly." He said, his eyebrows high.

"It has nothing to do with being leaderly, Fang. Now get out." I told him. He just smirked.

"Nope." He popped the p and dragged out the o, while smirking in a way that made me want to wipe it right off his face. I scowled, and he only smirked larger.

"Fine then. Turn around. And if you peek, I will kill you." I sneered, and he full on smiled now.

"Now, Max, that's not nice. That could be considered harassment." He's such a smartass. I glared at him.

"So could you not leaving my room. You know, I could yell rape right now and you would be responsible. I could totally hold it against you. Now either turn around, or leave." Now it was my turn to smirk, as he scowled and surrendered, turning his back to me. As fast as I could I stripped off my shirt and replaced it with the other non-wrinkled one. No sign of him turning around. Yet. I unbuttoned my pants, and saw his head twitch and start to turn. "Fang…" I sneered, in such a stone cold tone that he stood rim-rod strait and stared at the wall. The pants fell to my ankles, and as I tried to work my foot out of one leg my toe caught, and I lost my balance. I tried to put my arms out and not fall, but the pants in my hand threw me off. "Oh-whoa!" I squeaked, and fell to the floor. "Oof!" the air was knocked out of my chest, and Fang spun around, despite my efforts, and I saw his eyes go wide. Imagine this: a 16-year old girl, on the ground in her underwear, eyes wide, her feet tangled in a pair of wrinkled jeans and another pair in her hand. Fang couldn't keep his eyes off of me; or rather, my butt. In only underwear and a T-shirt, it was the least clothes he had ever seen me in. He started laughing. Like, almost crying he was laughing so hard. I scowled again, then sat up and yanked the jeans off my feet. "Turn around, Fang, or you're dead!" I told him, and he turned back to the wall, doubling over. I jumped up and pulled my other pants on, then zipped them up and went over to Fang.

I bent down to his eye level and he tried to stop as I looked him in the eye with a strait expression.

"Something funny, Fang?" I said, my tone as sweet as I could manage. He smothered his laughter in his arm, and shook his head. He stood straight and bit his lip to look me in the eye. I raised my eyebrows as if to say "Go on."

"Um- well…" he cleared his throat, and I turned away from him to the door. I took two strides and grabbed the handle, when a rough warm hand caught my shoulder to turn me around. Fang's face was sullen now, and he looked me in the eyes with no emotion. I crossed my arms over my chest, expecting a good explanation. "Come on. It's nothing. You're just overreacting." I sighed. I wasn't going to get a good answer out of him.

"Whatever." I walked out the door before he could stop me and ran down to the kitchen, him on my heels.

"Ahh! Iggy!" Nudge shrieked. I jumped down the last two steps and around the corner, skidding into the kitchen. Iggy was doubled over laughing; Nudge had her mouth and eyes wide open, and a patch of eggs dripping down her nose. She looked shocked, to say the least, and most likely she was about to kill somebody. Iggy in particular, who was crying on the ground he was laughing so hard.

"What happened?!" I asked and couldn't help starting to laugh a little. Nudge's face was hilarious. Now she looked murderous, which only made me laugh harder. I even heard Fang chuckle.

"Iggy, you're dead." She said, and the calm manner just made it even more deadly. Iggy's eyes got wide, but he couldn't stop laughing. He tried to roll out of the kitchen and stand up, but he managed about a foot before Nudge pounced on him. She straddled his chest and pinned his shoulders down with her knees, her hands in fists.

"Nudge! Calm down!" Fang said, trying to save Iggy. But Nudge started slapping him across the face before we could pull her off him. I could hear her hand going back and forth across his face, leaving his cheeks burning red. Fang grabbed her arms, and I had to pry her hands off of Iggy's shirt as she tried desperately to slap him more.

Iggy groaned. "Nudge! God, you can _slap_! Damn." He told her, and she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head away. She still had some egg in her hair, but most had fallen off of her as she slapped Ig.

"Hey, Nudge, you still have… egg in your hair. Clean up." I said, motioning with my head to the bathroom. Fang let her go and she stomped off. He looked at me, silently asking what I was going to do, but I just shrugged. I went in the tiny room after Nudge and shut the door. She was leaning over the sink towards the mirror, inspecting her hair for any missed egg particles.

"What happened, Nudge? That's not normal for you to act out like that, especially towards Iggy." I questioned.

She sighed. "PMS, Max. Sorry, I know I shouldn't have done that, it's just that he was teasing me and I got mad, and then he threw egg in my hair and… well, you know." She mumbled. Probably one of the shortest sentences she ever mumbled.

"Ah. That makes sense now… but you really didn't have to go so far as to slap him that hard. He's probably going to have welts for a week." I said, and she giggled. Then she turned to me.

"Are you glad they're back, Max? Fang and Iggy and Gazzy? Like, really?" she asked, her brown eyes wide and curious. I picked a small piece of egg still burrowed in her hair as I thought.

"Yes. I am. I'm glad they're here. I missed them too much. They meant too much to let them go." I whispered. She just looked down. "What is it, Nudge? What's wrong?"

"I-" she was interrupted by a pounding on the door.

"Breakfast is ready!" Fang yelled, and I sighed.

"Later." I said, giving her a "Don't argue" look. She nodded and I opened the door just as Fang was about to knock again.

"Oh, hey. Breakfast." He said. I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah. I got that." I brushed past him back into the kitchen, where Angel, Gazzy, Miranda, Aaron and Zeke were already sitting. Zeke looked at me, and I felt his eyes follow me as I got my food and sat down next to Angel. Everybody else showed up to fill the empty seats and talk about random things. All through the meal, I felt both Fang and Zeke staring at me but I pretended to be infatuated with my food. By the time I was done, I felt like my head was Swiss cheese.

"I'm done. I'll be in my room." Zeke said, shoving his chair back and dropping his plate in the sink, the following clatter was loud and sounded like he had broken it. He stomped up the stairs, and he slammed his door.

"Well. I wonder what his problem is." Iggy mumbled. He now had red welt marks on both of his cheeks, and I could see the outline of Nudge's hand on the red marks. He looked really funny. Like a clown, almost.

Fang shrugged, and various comments spread around the table.

"I'm done, too." I announced, and pushed my chair back. It screeched on the wood floor, and I set my plate in the sink much softer than Zeke had, as I could see the scattered porcelain around the bottom. I walked up the stairs slowly, and passed 3 doors on the left until I saw the one I wanted. I reached out my hand…

And opened it.

**Sooo… who do you think it is? It's probably really obvious, but still. REVIEW!!! PLEASE!!! I LOVE THEM!!!:) I'll give you an imaginary plate of cookies!!! ;)**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	13. Hayden

**Heyo. I have no school again (for the third day in a row!!) and so now I'm updating. I had a bit of writers block yesterday, so that's why I didn't update earlier. But now I have an idea…*smiles evilly* haha. Anyways, ENJOY!!!! (P.S, this chapter is dedicated to someone. They know who they are. ;D)**

**Disclaimer: JP owns Maximum Ride, I only own my characters and my plot.**

Fang POV

"Hey, guys, I'm going out for a fly." I said as I set my plate in the sink after breakfast. Max was upstairs, with Zeke it sounded like, and I needed to clear my head.

There were various Bye's and See Ya's, but Angel ran up to me and hugged me.

"Bye Fang." She said, her bright blue eyes staring up at me. "Come back soon." She smiled at me, hopefully, and I smiled and hugged her back.

"I will, sweetie. Soon as I can." I told her, and I meant it. I kissed the top of her head and walked out the door, grabbing a jacket on my way. It was cold and snowy outside, the snow falling lightly and covering every inch of the ground. I really shouldn't be flying in this weather, but I hadn't stretched my wings in a few days. I breathed in the freezing air, the cold burning my nose. I looked around me for anybody watching, and spread my wings. It felt so good to let them out that I sighed. Then I ran, jumped, and pumped my wings up and down to raise me up into the sky above the snowfall.

Just then my cell phone rang. Yes, I have a cell phone. I took it out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID: Hayden. I pressed the green phone button and put it to my ear.

"Where have you been?! I've been worried sick about you! You haven't called me, you haven't texted me, or emailed me or _anything_! What the hell is so important?!" she screamed at me. Oops. I had completely forgotten about her.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to. I just… I've been busy lately." I told her.

"Busy? _Busy? _With what? Some slut you picked up off the streets? Huh?" she was definitely pissed off. Now I was pissed off. I didn't pick up sluts off the street! _Ever!_

"I found Max, Hayden." I said. Short and simple. I heard her intake of breath, and I could practically see her eyes go wide.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know…" she whispered. "I thought that girl you left with might have been the wrong person, and then maybe you ran away, or something happened…"

"No its fine, Hay. Why don't I meet you somewhere?"

"Okay. Um… how about the Super Scooper? It's the easiest for me." Her voice was faint, as if she was sad.

"Yeah, that's perfect. 20 minutes."

"Okay, see you then." She whispered, and the line went dead. I sighed. She was upset over yelling at me, I could tell. I flew high, swooping and diving. It gave me a rush and kept my mind off of Max. Did I really love her? Well, of course I did. She was my best friend. But did I _love_ her? As more than a sister or a best friend? I didn't know. Maybe I did, but did she? I don't think so. Besides, what was happening between her and Zeke? It was a little more than just friendship, that's for sure. The looks he kept giving her; he definitely liked her.

I dropped down beneath the clouds and saw the little ice cream shop and Hayden's car outside. I swooped towards the back and landed by the old dumpster. I jogged out and around the corner and saw Hayden sitting at a booth and staring at the sky, her eyes wide. Uh-oh… had she seen me flying? I walked inside, and she turned to the door and smiled. I couldn't help but smile back a little.

"Hey." She jumped out of her seat and surprised me by throwing her arms around me. "I missed you." She whispered as I hugged her back.

"I was gone for 2 days, Hayden." I whispered into her hair. I felt her shrug. She let go of me and sat down, me across from her.

"I just saw something really weird. Right before you came in, I saw this _huge_ bird! It was all black, and it had a weird shape to it. But it was so cool! I wonder what kind of bird it is. Maybe it's a new species. I've never seen anything like it." She told me. Yep. She had seen me. But she didn't know it was me. I shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe it is." I shrugged, pretending not to know anything. She looked at me with her head cocked and her eyes penetrating.

"You're hiding something. I know it." She said, and I shrugged again. "So. Tell me _everything_." She leaned her elbows on the table, giving up the bird thing. For now.

So I told her. Everything. All about finding her and seeing her for the first time, meeting the others, the meals, everything except for when I almost kissed Max. She might get mad at me, for any reason. Like if she was jealous, for instance. She listened intently, nodding when appropriate. We sat there talking for hours, until it was dark outside.

"It's late. I should probably be getting back home." She sighed.

"Yeah. I should too. Angel might be getting angry." I stood up and stretched, and she did the same. I walked out the door and into the cold. Great, I had to fly back now. It had been about a 25 minute flight earlier, and now it was probably 10 degrees colder. I shuddered.

"Angel?" Hayden asked. We leaned against the wall to say goodbye.

"Yeah. She's the youngest. The baby." I told her, and she nodded.

"Oh. Yeah. Little kids can attach to you really easily." She did that one laugh/cough thing.

"Well, I mean, I practically raised her, so I can see why she'd be attached." I defended.

"Wait, you raised her? I thought she was Max's little sister?" Uh-oh. Slip up…

"Uh, yeah, well… I-I knew her before that… she went to the same day care as the Gasman did." I said, staring off into the dark. She gave me a skeptical look.

"You are definitely hiding something, Fang. Just tell me." She gave me a "don't argue, I'll win" look, and I sighed.

"I can't. Not now. Maybe later. It's just… it's complicated. And a bit crazy. But I promise I'll tell you soon, alright?" I persuaded, and she glared at me but nodded anyways.

"Fine. But you _will_ tell me." I nodded. "And, one last thing." She was staring at her feet now.

"What?" I whispered, and she stared into my eyes. Was it just me or was she moving closer? Nope, she was definitely getting closer. I could feel her warm breath on my cheeks, and suddenly I couldn't breathe. She leaned on her toes, and pressed her soft lips to mine. Just for a second though, but maybe it wasn't long enough. She pulled back and stayed close enough that I could kiss her again if I wanted to, but I was too shocked. She stared into my eyes and whispered, "Don't forget me," and then she walked off to her car and drove off, leaving me standing there wondering what had just happened. I could still feel the ghost of her lips on mine, and I couldn't help touching them with the tips of my fingers.

After I had stood there for a good amount of time and my toes had gone numb, I decided I should get back to Max's place, for fear Angel might kill me. I stalked out behind the dumpster again and ran, whipping out my wings when I had enough speed. The air bit into my skin, tiny icicles freezing on my face. I flew as fast as I could to get out of this horrible weather. Max was going to kill me…

I dropped down to the house and saw one light on downstairs. Walking through the door I tried to be as silent as possible, but my shoes were covered in snow and squeaked as I walked on the tile, so I quickly slipped them off. I walked into the living room, planning to sleep on the couch, and was taken aback as Max stood there staring at me, arms crossed and face emotionless. She was scariest when you couldn't read her.

"Where have you been?" she asked, and I could hear the coldness in her voice.

"I needed some air." I responded, shrugging.

"Air? It took you 5 hours to get some _air?_ Try telling that to Angel. She's been worrying about you all afternoon." I could see the worry in her eyes, but was it for me or for Angel?

"Sorry. I met with a friend and we were talking for a while." I told her, keeping my voice emotionless. She dropped her arms and scoffed.

"Whatever. Just don't do it again." She said, pulling a blanket from a cabinet and throwing it on the couch. "Sleep down here tonight." She turned away towards the stairs.

"I was planning to. Night Max." I told her, and she sighed. What for though?

"Night Fang." And she proceeded up the stairs and into her room. I shook my head and took off my jacket and my shirt, climbing under the warm blanket. But I couldn't fall asleep, so I just layed there staring at the ceiling until sleep finally overtook me.

**So… sorry if it's weird; I'm not a guy so I don't know how they think. (I have a brother, so I really don't **_**want**_** to know.) Anyways… REVIEW!! PLEASE!!! AND TELL ME HOW YOU LIKE IT!! Or not, or anything else you want to say. Just please review!!! I won't update until I get 10 reviews, alright? I don't want to stoop to this level, but I don't feel like anybody's reading my story. So…. Press it!! And type a review!! :) **

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	14. Confused

**Alrighty. I'm going to be in California tomorrow through the 29****th****, so I may not be able to update then. So I'm updating now. And sorry if this sounds a little strange, I couldn't decide on how this should go. Plus I'm not very good at conversations in the first place. So, tell me if I need to change something. Oh, and it's Christmas time in the story, too. Just FYI.**

**Disclaimer: JP owns MR, not me. (darnit!)**

Zeke was leaned back against his desk chair with his arms crossed across his chest and his eyebrows high. "What do you want?" he growled.

"What is your problem, Zeke? You're such a grump." I huffed as I plopped down on his bed. He scowled.

"I am not a grump." He hissed. I raised my eyebrows.

"Really? Then why did Angel tell me you were giving her a headache with all of your negative thinking yesterday?" I told him, and I saw his eyes flash with something. Maybe pain? I couldn't decipher it.

"I didn't know she was listening…" he sighed.

I shook my head. "She's always listening, Zeke. Whether she even wants to or not." He put his head in his hands.

"I've just got a lot to deal with right now, okay, Max? And I'm sorry Angel heard all that. I didn't mean for her to." He admitted, mumbling into his hands.

"Like what? What are you dealing with?" I asked softly. He looked up and met my eyes. He let his emotions shine through his eyes, and it was so powerful I almost could have fallen over. I saw pain, worry, anger, passion, and even love. My breath hitched.

"Too many things, Max. I miss the way things were before those others came, before they… took you away from me. You spend more time with Fang than with me." He whispered, staring at the ground.

"Zeke… I haven't seen them in 2 years. I have a right to spend time with them." I defended. "Plus, you haven't even been around to spend time with us! Maybe you would like them if you would just give them a chance!" I told him, my voice rising. I stood up as I talked, to emphasize my point.

"Max, I don't want to get to know them! They broke your heart, and now you want me to get all buddy-buddy with them? I don't think I can just change my opinion on somebody that quick! And they hurt you, why are you protecting them?" he stood up too, his voice rising even more than mine. My heart tightened; I hated it when we fought. My head reached only to his shoulder, which made me feel a little less authoritive. I kept my head high and my shoulders back though.

"Because they're still my family, Zeke! No matter what! I can't just abandon them! I need them to feel whole, to feel like a real person! You should know that! I told you that a million times!" I screamed at him. His eyes flared, and he stepped closer to me.

"Yeah, you told me alright. But just because your old family comes along again, doesn't mean you have to leave your old one behind." He said, calm and steady. That was the most menacing, though. I held my ground, but felt a tug at my heart. He felt like I was leaving him behind!

"Zeke, I'm not leaving you behind. I'm just trying to adapt to having more people to care for." I whispered, but I knew it wasn't really true. I was sort of abandoning him, and leaving him to fend for himself as I chatted with Fang about pointless things. I sat back down on his bed, and leaned against his headboard. I sighed as he sat down in his chair again.

"Why don't we do something together? Just as a family?" Zeke said, his eyes lighting up with the possibility.

"Yeah… what about ice skating? That new rink is opening next to the pizza parlor. We could try that out…" I smiled at the thought. A good idea… definitely. Angel and Nudge would love it.

"Oh, yeah. It's getting to be Christmas time… maybe we should go to the mall too. Get some presents for everybody." he suggested. "Don't you still have the Max Ride card?"

"Yeah I do. I wonder who pays for it… and if it has a limit. Because we've used a _lot_ of money on that thing." I said. I gave a humorless laugh, knowing it could possibly be a whitecoat. Then I shuddered. I would never go through any of that again, no matter what. If we were captured, I would get us out.

"Alright, so it's settled. We go to the mall and the ice skating tomorrow, without Fang, Gasman, and Iggy. Deal?" he hissed Fang's name, and the way he said the sentence it was obvious there was no other way they could go. I sighed/groaned, and fell back on his bed.

"Why do you hate them, Zeke? They never did anything to you!" I groaned, but let it go. It could be nice to spend some time with the others. I peeked and saw he was about to say something and start yelling again, but I interrupted him. "Fine. But I won't be too happy about our _abandoning_ them." his jaw tightened as I emphasized abandoning.

"Okay. So, where is he anyway?" He asked, and I knew perfectly well who _he_ was, by the way he said it.

"Did he leave? I didn't hear him."

He nodded. "Yeah, he left. A while ago." His expression was superior, as if he knew Fang was somewhere he shouldn't be.

"Oh. Well, he should be back soon then. Do _you_ know where he went?" I lifted my eyebrows up, and saw the side of his lip twitch. My chest tightened, for some reason.

"Maybe. I have an idea." His chin was high, and the smirk was very prominent on his face now.

"Tell me. I don't care what it is, just tell me." I snipped at him, knowing he would put it off and change the subject before I got my answers. Suddenly he looked doubtful. He took a deep breath.

"I found his phone last night. It was on the couch, I didn't go snooping through his stuff." He reassured me. "There were a bunch of messages on it, from somebody named Hayden. Probably a girl. They were like, I miss you, I want to see you, where are you, what happened to you, are you alive, etc. There was literally about a hundred of them. I don't know who it is, I just saw them." he held up his hands as if I would hurt him for this. My heart tugged painfully, but I didn't know why. I kept my face a careful mask, and I could tell Zeke was trying to figure out my emotions. I sighed under my breath, and I know he heard it.

"Um, I'm going to, uh, go downstairs. I need something to eat." I lied, and I knew he didn't buy it. But he nodded anyways and I walked downstairs, sitting on the big comfy couch. I sat there, thinking, for what felt like hours. I think I might have fallen asleep at some point, but I couldn't tell. My mind was too clouded and jumbled up.

At some point Angel came down and sat on my lap. Her small blond curls were messed up from sleeping, and her small face was scrunched up in worry.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" I asked, brushing stray hairs out of her face.

"I haven't heard Fang all day. And I can't get into Zeke's mind; his mind blocks are too good. And so are yours. I feel like you guys are hiding something from me, and I really _hate_ that feeling! Max, what's happening? Where's Fang?" her blue eyes were huge, and it looked like they might even be close to tears. I hugged her close and stroked her hair.

"It's fine, sweetie. I'm just thinking, and I didn't remember I had my blocks up, and Zeke probably forgot too. I don't know where Fang is though; he left early this morning after breakfast. He probably went to see a friend of his." My voice choked up on friend, and I coughed to cover it up.

She sighed, and nodded into my chest. "I'm just worried. I don't want to lose him again after these 2 years." She whispered, and I hugged her even tighter.

"Me too, sweetie. Me too." I whispered into her hair. She stayed there for a while, and finally she sighed and got back up.

"I'm tired. I'm going upstairs to sleep, okay?" she sounded so sad, and I had no choice but to let her go.

"Alright. Well, tomorrow, we are going to go out to the ice skating rink." Her eyes lit up amazingly, and I just had to smile. She started jumping up and down.

"Really? Really, really, really?! Oh, Max, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she ran and hugged me again, and then ran up the stairs shouting, "I'll be ready in the morning! Night Max!"

I laughed at her sudden hyperness, and shouted back "Night Ange!" before she shut her door. I sighed and fell back down on the couch.

After another hour or so, I heard someone step on the porch and unlock the door. I knew instantly it was Fang, since the footsteps were so quiet and stealthy. The only other sound that would tell you he was there was his shoes squeaking across the tile. He came into view, and I saw his eyes widen a little as he saw me. I made my face as stone-ly as I could manage.

He was dressed in his usual black clothes, and his lips were red from the cold and his cheeks were a soft pink. I had to admit, he looked really hot right then. I ignored the tug at my heart.

"Where have you been?" I asked, and I let the coldness seep into my voice.

"I needed some air." He responded, shrugging.

"Air? It took you 5 hours to get some _air?_ Try telling that to Angel. She's been worrying about you all afternoon." I didn't let the worry show in my eyes, for him

"Sorry. I met with a friend and we were talking for a while." He said, and I couldn't read him. I dropped my arms and scoffed.

"Whatever. Just don't do it again." I huffed, pulling a blanket from a cabinet and throwing it on the couch. "Sleep down here tonight." I turned away and stomped towards the stairs.

"I was planning to. Night Max." He told me, and I sighed.

"Night Fang." I proceeded up the stairs and into my room, plopping down on my bed and screaming into my pillow. He had been out with someone, and I felt like he was betraying me somehow. I tried to forget about all of this, and just look forward to having a good day with my family the next day.

Even though half of my family wasn't even going to be there….

I sighed.

**Okay…. This was a **_**really**_** long chapter. Almost 2,000 words! Geez. So, review and tell me how it is. ???:)**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	15. Problems

**Next chapter. ENJOY! And it could be a long one… I think I'll switch between POVs here.**

**Disclaimer: JP's characters(mostly). My plot.**

MAX POV

I woke up with a start, but I couldn't remember the dream again. This was the 3rd time it'd happened tonight. I sighed and looked at the clock. 5:46. Ugh. The last time I woke up it was 3:40. I couldn't fall asleep for about an hour anyways. I was dreading going ice skating, partly because I knew I was going to fall big time, and also because I didn't want to abandon Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy. Iggy was staying at his girlfriends house, so I wasn't as worried about him as Fang and Gazzy. And Miranda, for that fact. She was a pretty sweet girl, but I hadn't had much time to spend with her. Or Gazzy, or Iggy, or really the rest of my family too. They were growing up, and I sort of felt like I wasn't there to watch them. I heaved a huge sigh.

I swung my feet out of my cocoon of covers and sheets, and ran a hand through my hair. I shivered and hugged my arms closer to me. I was in pajama pant and a tank top, but I knew I'd get used to the air in a minute. I stepped out of my room so quietly it could give Fang a run for his money. I tiptoed downstairs, forgetting about Fang sleeping on the couch. I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, letting the cool air flow over me. I started looking for something to eat, but all we had was some condiments and a piece of chocolate cake. I smiled and snatched it out, shutting the door and grabbing a fork from the drawer.

I put the first bite in my mouth and the chocolate taste filled my mouth. I hummed and took another bite, just as the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I froze in mid-chew, and my back stiffened. I had the fork in the cake, ready to pick up another bite, when a tan hand reached over my shoulder and took the fork from my hand. A mouth appeared on my shoulder and the fork and the cake disappeared, and Fang smirked at me as I glared at him over my shoulder. He set the fork down on the plate and leaned against the counter, amused. I set the plate down and crossed my arms across my chest.

He motioned his head to the cake and swallowed. "Good cake."

"I know. That's why I was eating it." I told him, raising my eyebrows. He smiled. Actually _smiled_. The one that made my heart skip a beat and then restart 2 times faster. I couldn't help but grin back. I leaned against the island that was directly across from Fang, and we stood there for a minute in the comfortable silence.

"You couldn't sleep either?" he asked suddenly.

"Uh, no. I woke up a few times, from some sort of… nightmare." I shrugged, and I knew what he was going to ask. "No, I don't remember, by the way."

He nodded slowly, his eyebrows pulled together. "That's weird. That's the same thing that happened to me."

"Really? Huh." I pulled myself up on the counter, thinking hard.

"Maybe it's a sign. Woo-oo-o." he wiggled his fingers kind of like he was playing a piano, trying to look like an alien thing. I tried to just raise my eyebrows and give him a "what the heck" look, but I failed and burst out laughing instead. He joined in after a moment, and we were laughing so hard he fell on the floor and I almost fell off the island.

We settled down enough to stand- or sit, in my case- properly. I leaned my hands back against the island behind me, taking deep breaths. We sat there staring at each other for a moment, and I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He looked so beautiful right then, not worrying about anything in particular and actually smiling. He was_ really_ handsome now that I truly looked at him. Wait, no, scratch that.

"But, Max, what if it really is a sign? What if it's something that… I don't know… connects us somehow." He guessed, shrugging.

"You're right. It very well could be. Maybe the whitecoats implanted something, like a chip, and programmed it to do this, or…" I sighed. This was crazy, any way you sliced it. "Maybe they just like fooling around with us. Little lab rats, running through the maze…" I whispered the last part, looking at the floor. Fang pushed off of his counter and came over to me, a little too close for comfort, and lifted my chin to look him in the eyes. We were eye-to-eye at this level, and his were completely intoxicating. They were like black midnight stones, polished and shiny. But they were so deep and warm that I didn't want to look away, for fear I may never see this sight again. I gulped involuntarily.

"Max, we are not lab rats. We never will be lab rats. We may have been once, a long time ago, but that's over with now. Itex is gone; we don't have to worry about them anymore. We only have to worry about what's right for us, and this family." My stomach tightened as he said family, since we were going to abandon him in the morning and go skate. I was tempted to tell him about it, but I was paralyzed as I noticed he was moving closer to me and looking at my lips. I couldn't handle it if he kissed me right now; I would explode and tell him about everything. But I couldn't find the words to tell him to stop.

I could smell his minty breath as he came closer to me, and I felt the warmth emanating off of his skin. The hand that was at my chin glided down my neck and down my arm, sending tingles through everything he touched and then taking my hand in his. My mouth was opening and closing with the words I couldn't speak, and finally I croaked "Fang…". It was squeaky and almost unintelligible, and he understood what it was supposed to be but took it as permission instead of what I meant.

"Max." he whispered- though I hate to say it- seductively. And it almost worked. But I finally got my brain to work again and shook my head slightly, pulling my hand from his and scooting backwards on the island.

"No, don't. Stop." I choked out, my voice breaking. His eyebrows drew together and his face became a mask again.

"Wh-what?" he stuttered, pathetically reaching a hand to me then drawing it back. I continued shaking my head.

"Don't, please Fang. I can't handle that right now." I felt a tear well up in my eye, and I angrily wiped it away with the heel of my hand.

"Can't handle what, Max? Commitment? Family, love? What is it?" his eyes narrowed at me accusingly, and I shrunk back. His eyes held mine and it felt like he had me in chains, his gaze was so penetrating. Finally I managed to close my eyes and huddle into a ball and sit there in silence for a minute, thinking. He sighed/groaned, and I could practically feel him roll his eyes at me.

"I just can't, Fang. I have too much going on right now." I whispered, and my hand fell off the edge of the island as I scooted backwards again. I looked at him and he was staring at me hostily, obviously not happy with my answer.

"Fine. If you say so." He ground out, a steel edge in his voice. I gulped. He was not happy, at all. Whoops. He turned on his heel and went back into the living room, and I heard him huff down on the couch and rustle around. I sighed and swung my legs off the counter, then ran upstairs to my room. I slid into my now-cold bed, and tried to get back to sleep. Yeah, like I could sleep after _that. _

"Max! Wake up! It's time to leave!" I heard in my ear, accompanied by a little body sitting on me and the breath leaving my lungs.

I blinked in the sunlight, and saw Angel's face once my eyes adjusted.

"Angel," I coughed. "Can you… get off of me…?" she giggled excitedly as Nudge ran in with a pail of water, and my eyes widened with horror. Angel smiled wickedly, followed by Nudge as she ran towards me with the bucket of no-doubt freezing cold water. I held up my arm as if it would protect me, while saying "No-no-no- I'm awake! Nudge, don't, I'm a-" too late. I gasped as the cold water hit my warm body, soaking me all the way through to my underwear, which was still under the covers. My mouth was hanging wide open, and some water dripped in. "-Wake." I finished. The upside: at least I didn't need to take a shower today. The downside: I was soaking wet with ice cold water. Angel and Nudge were rolling on the floor laughing to tears, and Aaron ran in, then burst out laughing as he saw me soaking wet. Alex, then Zeke ran in to see what the laughing was all about. I gave Zeke a "if you laugh, you will die" look, and he just barely managed to bite his lip enough to not make a noise. I sat up and got out of bed, dripping everywhere.

First, I picked up Angel. She squealed as the cold water dripped all over her and I hugged her tightly, soaking her. Next, was Nudge. She saw me coming and scrambled to her feet, but she wasn't fast enough. I tackled her in the hallway, and she screamed as the cold contacted her skin. I laughed and started to press my fingers to her neck, knowing how cold they were. "How do you like it now, huh, Nudge?" I teased as she managed to scramble away. By this time Zeke had lost control, and was busting a gut bending over. So he didn't see me coming as I slammed into him in a big hug, he squealed like a little girl, and I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants. He struggled to get me off, but I wrapped my arms around his elbows so he couldn't move. By the time I was starting to get warmer, everyone was soaked. I smiled sweetly at Nudge, who was glaring at me for ruining her hair. They all huffed away to get ready again.

I got dressed in warm clothes to ice skate in, and dried my hair. It would freeze if I didn't. I went downstairs for breakfast, which was…(drum roll please)… cereal. Yes, a gourmet meal, isn't it? (Note the sarcasm.)

"What was that noise upstairs? It woke me up." Gazzy walked into the kitchen as I poured my Lucky Charms.

"Hey, Gaz. That was Nudge pouring water on me to wake me up, even though I was already up." I explained, and he winced in sympathy, chuckling slightly.

"Sorry, Max. But you have to admit, that's pretty funny." He told me, and I nodded. It was pretty funny, if only it hadn't have happened to me.

"So what are we doing today?" he asked me, and that stopped me short. I really didn't want to leave them here all day as we left to go ice skating. But I knew Zeke would get mad if I invited him…

"We're going ice skating." I told him, and his eyes lit up happily. It didn't matter what Zeke thought. They were my family too. "Get Ig, Gaz. He'll come too." he nodded eagerly and ran off.

Zeke appeared from the hallway, his face hard as stone. Uh-oh. He heard me tell Gazzy to get Iggy, and that they were going skating too.

"I thought we agreed on only our _family_ going." He ground out. I tilted my chin up a little.

"They _are_ family, Zeke. My family." I retorted. He let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine. They can come. Just not Fang, though. Otherwise, we're not going at all." He stared at me, and I couldn't argue with him. I nodded sadly.

"Alright. Fine." I agreed. Gazzy came back in, towing a practically still asleep Iggy.

"Whad'ya want, Max? I'm so tired." He slurred.

"Ice skating. Wanna come?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Nah. I'd rather sleep. See ya, Max."

"Alright. Bye, Ig. We could be done late, so don't expect us home any time soon." He waved his hand in acknowledgement as he slumped back to his room. "Okay. Gaz, you want to go get everybody else upstairs? We'll leave in a few minutes." He nodded and ran upstairs. I looked at Zeke and tiptoed out of the kitchen and into the living room, where Fang was sleeping. I noticed he was just sitting there, staring at the ceiling. I quickly turned back and walked to the kitchen, not wanting to talk to him at all. I scribbled on a note and stuck it on the fridge with a magnet. The rest of the kids pounded down the stairs, too loudly for me to be comfortable with, and filed into the car.

Zeke drove off quickly, and just as we were turning away I saw Fang peek through the window. I looked away, ashamed. I had left him, like he had done to me. Why did I feel so horrible about it, then?

**Okay, this is a seriously long chapter. I hope you like it. Its my new years present to you guys.:) REVIEW!!**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	16. Ice Skating

**Update. Here it is! Enjoy! And by the way, everyone (Max, Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, Zeke, Aaron, Alex, and Miranda) and there. Except for poor Fang. Iggs didn't go.**

**Disclaimer: JP owns the characters, except for the ones I made up.**

As we pulled into the ice skating rink parking lot, I got a weird feeling in my stomach. Like it was going to be a really long day, for some reason. I just hoped it would have nothing to do with the school.

We all hopped out of the car and walked in, and as soon as we opened the doors I was hit with a freezing blast of air. I was used to it though. We walked up to the counter, and I noticed a guy staring at me suggestively behind the counter. He was sort of cute, with light blonde hair and blue eyes, but not my type at all. I raised my eyebrows at him and went up to the counter. He shoved the other guy who was getting the skates out of the way and leaned on the counter towards me.

"Size 8." I told him, a tiny scowl on my face. He smirked at me, looking sort of sickening.

"I can get you a size 10, if you know what I mean." He said –dare I say it- seductively, while winking. I had to stop myself from gagging, but I couldn't help but cover my mouth in case it didn't work. I could feel everybody tense up behind me as I straightened and looked him in the eye, leaning onto the table like he was. I shot him a sarcastic sweet smile. I saw his eyes light up like he thought I was going to say yes. Bleh.

"I think you would like to know, I have a boyfriend." I lied, and his eyes got wide and he stood up. "Now just give me the damn skates, freak." I spat, and he grabbed them and threw them on the counter, then retreated to the employee hallway. I smirked.

Of course, Nudge had to talk about it as we were getting our skates on. "Geez, Max, I thought you might have jumped over the counter and tackled him, but that was funnier! He was sooo scared! By the way, do you really have a boyfriend? Or were you just saying that to get him to shut up? Because if you did that would be so cute! I love having a boyfri-oops. Not supposed to say that, you didn't hear that! Anyway, is it Fang? Because that would be soooo ad-"

"Nudge! Please! Breathe!" I interrupted her, and she took a deep breath. "And what was that about boyfriends?" her eyes got wide and she abruptly stood up, shouted "Let's go!", while wobbling unsteadily on her skates. Angel stood up perfectly and helped her walk to the rink. I rolled my eyes and stood up on my own skates. I caught Zeke staring at me out of the corner of my eye as he stood unsteadily on his skates. I walked to the opening in the rink, one of the big hockey ones with all of the red and blue lines. There were only a few other people there, so it was quiet except for the dorky Christmas music playing in the background.

I put one skate out and pushed off of the landing with the other, and quickly lost my balance. I had only skated like three times in my whole life, and it had been a while since those other two. But Zeke magically appeared behind me and caught me, perfectly skating across the ice. With his hands on my waist and my head on his chest (backwards) he skated to the wall and I quickly grabbed it and hoisted myself up. He smirked at me.

"Since when do you know how to skate?" I questioned. He shrugged and started showing off. He went backwards and started twirling around in circles, until his skate caught on something and he fell flat on his face. I couldn't help but laugh as he tried to get up, but his skate kept slipping on the ice. Angel passed him and giggled, along with Nudge and Alex. So Zeke sat there for a few minutes with a pouty face, until I decided to help him out. I skated on the wall for a minute, getting the hang of it, and when I was parallel to him I slowly ventured out to the middle where he sat. He watched me with a skeptical look, and I reached my hand out to him when I got there. At first he just stared at it, then he grabbed it and yanked on it, pulling me to the ground on top of him. I couldn't help but yelp a little at the sudden movement, and then he grunted under me as I fell on him. I couldn't help but notice he was _right there_. I mean, my face wasn't three inches from his face. My eyes flew wide as he closed his and leaned in, probably about to kiss me. Acting fast I rolled over onto the ice away from him and scooted a few inches away for good measure. Then I burst out laughing to cover it up. He got a sour look on his face, then started laughing along with me. I could tell it was fake though, and that he had really wanted to kiss me. _Well too bad, buddy. _I thought to myself, wondering why he was acting strange, and started to get up. I was the smart one, leaning to the side and getting up from my knees instead of the way Zeke was doing it: trying to do a sort of ninja move and magically land on his feet. I just laughed at him and skated away all around him, not scared of falling at all. He childishly stuck his tongue out, and I did the same.

Then Gazzy just had to zoom past me, cackling maniacally. I started chasing him, and was just about to grab his sweatshirt when he sped up and someone grabbed me from behind. I straightened up and almost lost my balance, then caught it at the last second before we spun into the wall. Angel giggled behind me as she hung onto my sweatshirt and Nudge hang onto hers, so we made a train. After I went around, everyone started hanging onto the last person's coat, and I almost made whoever was last ram into the wall. It was really hard to stay balanced like this, and I almost lost it more than once, but I kept going.

"On three, everyone let go!" I shouted. "One, two… _three_!" I screamed, and the weight behind me vanished and everyone started laughing as they moved past me from the momentum. I couldn't help but laugh as a few ran into each other, and some spun out and slid into the wall slowly. It was pretty dang funny, if you saw it. I was perched on the wall, taking a break from all of the weight of my family, when Zeke came up to me again.

I sat there for a minute with him standing beside me, and instead of the usual comfortable silence, this was awkward. But, why? He took a deep breath, staring at his siblings as they tried to tackle Gazzy to the ground. I smirked.

"So… what about that guy at the desk?" he asked, trying to be casual, but I saw his jaw strained. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he didn't look at me.

"That's why you're acting strange? Because some freak tried to hit on me? Pff." I hopped off the side and started skating again, and he just followed me.

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted me to go back and punch his face in. I could, easily." He glared at the ice, thinking about him.

"If you wanted to do that, you should have done it before." I informed him, scoffing. He just kept glaring at the ice, thinking hard. And queue awkward silence again. We skated along in a circle, both of us silent, until he stopped and grabbed my hand, jerking me back to him. And a little too close, actually way too close. He was probably going to kiss me again, something in the back of my head said, but the way he was staring into my eyes and the warmth of his body next to mine didn't let me register that information until it was too late.

"And what about the boyfriend, part, Max? Is that true?" he breathed and his breath intoxicated my brain, not letting me think at all.

"N-no…" I stuttered, automatically, trapped by his amazing eyes.

"Good. Then let me be." He whispered, and before I could say anything he wound his fingers in my hair and pulled me up to kiss me.

FANG POV

I woke up to the sound of shuffling feet and murmured voices, but it wasn't like I had gotten any sleep last night anyways. I was mostly thinking about Max, and why she said no. She is so confusing.

I lay in my makeshift bed for a while, just listening to people run up and down the stairs, like they were getting ready for something. I ignored it and tried to figure out what they were saying. I thought I heard Max scream earlier, and Nudge and Angel laugh, and then everybody else laughing. I still didn't get up. Gazzy walked through the living room, but he didn't even see me, and then he got Iggy and he didn't see me either. Whatever. I heard Max and Zeke whispering madly, like they were fighting about something. I thought I might have even heard my name. That got me up. But as soon as I walked into the kitchen the door slammed to the garage and I heard all of the car doors slam too. I walked to the window just in time to see Max and Zeke and the rest of them, except for Iggy, drive off. Just for a moment, my eyes met Max's, and I saw pain and some other emotion, but she turned away and was gone before I could read it.

I sighed and walked back into the kitchen and saw a note on the counter, written in Max's handwriting but scribbled, as if they were in a hurry. It said:

_Fang-_

_We have gone out for the day. Iggy is still here, so wake him up when you think he's dead. We won't be back for a while, so feel free to do whatever you want today. Go hang out with some of your friends or something._

_Call me if you need anything. Love,_

_Max_

Where did they go? Why wouldn't she tell me? Why had they just left me here without talking to me? What did she mean by "love"? Love-love or brother-love? I didn't get it. I crumbled up the note and threw it in the trash can, going to get my clothes and my cell phone.

After I had changed into my black pants and shirt (shocker, I know) I picked up my cell and dialed, waiting until the third ring on the other side until she picked up.

"Hey, Fang. What's up?" Hayden chirped, probably just coming in from her morning run. "I'm glad you didn't forget me." She giggled. I smiled a little.

"Hey, I was wondering, do you want to do something later? I've got the whole day free." I couldn't keep a bit of the sour tone out of my voice, but Hayden didn't pick it up.

"Yeah, sure! Hey, I saw an ad for this new ice skating rink in town. What'dya say? I think it'd be pretty fun." She suggested. Ice skating was pretty cool. Sure.

"Yeah, why not? I'll meet you at that Starbucks on 54th in twenty, okay? We can grab some coffee then head from there." That was the Starbucks we would hit almost every morning before school, and I really needed something to wake me up. She agreed, and by the time I got there she was sitting at a table with two cups in front of her, drinking out of one. She smiled when she saw me and motioned me over, and we drank our coffees quickly, then headed to the ice skating rink.

When we got there it wasn't really that crowded, and I heard kids screaming and giggling. Typical. We got our skates and put them on, walking to the ice slowly and unbalanced. Hayden even had to hang on to my arm for support. We laughed the whole way, trying not to fall.

But my good mood was ruined as soon as I looked in the rink.

There they were, my family. All of them. They were chasing each other around the rink, and I saw Nudge fall and skid on her back a few feet, squealing, and Angel and Gasman laughing hysterically at her. But what really got me, was Max. And Zeke. They were smack-dab in the middle of the rink.

Kissing. And they didn't look like they were going to stop very soon.

**Hehe sorry about the cliffys. I couldn't help it. XD REVIEW and tell me how you like it! And any ideas for the next chapter are good, too.**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	17. More Problems

**Ok, sorry I left you all with a cliffy last time. But I really don't know how this is going to work, since I don't have a solid idea of what will happen. So bear with me, I'll make it as good as I can.:) and I haven't had a real nice time slot to finish this, so it's been in the working for over a week now. Sorry if it seems a little boring, I had some writer's block. I need ideas, people! If you have any, feel free to tell me at the bottom!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, other than my own. **

"Fang!" I heard, a girl's voice, and pulled back from Zeke. Just in time, too, since I was getting out of breath. As soon as his lips had touched mine, I froze and got a weird knot in my stomach.

I pulled away and turned to the side and saw a tall blonde-haired girl in a sweatshirt and jeans, staring at a black head bobbing away, with her mouth open and eyes wide. My jaw set. Fang had seen me kissing Zeke! Great, more drama. Just what I need.

I skated to the edge as fast as I could just as the blonde-haired girl started glaring at me mercilessly. Oh, well. I was a little more concerned with Fang. I noticed him just getting to the door and headed there, trying not to trip on my skates. The person at the front desk yelled at him to come back with the skates, but he kept going. How had he moved so fast?

I vaguely heard Zeke yelling my name, along with a few others. As soon as I got to the door, I felt a tiny hand grab my arm and turn me around just as I saw a flash of black outside. I reluctantly turned around to see huge big blue eyes staring up at me, the only person who really knew what I was thinking.

"Give him some time, Max. He needs to think." Angel whispered, her eyes sympathetic. I nodded and turned back, then just sat on the bench we had used to put on skates, and the guy from before was staring at me intensely. I just ignored him and dropped my head in my hands.

"Angel… what is happening with them? Why are they like this?" I whispered, and her hand started rubbing my back.

_Because they love you, Max._ She said in my head, in a "duh" tone. My head shot up and my eyes went wide to stare at her. She shrugged like "sorry, it's true," and I rolled my eyes. _Its okay, they'll work it out. You just have to choose which one you want more._

_Oh, yeah, that helps, Ange_. I thought to her as sarcastic as I could. She smirked.

"It'll work out in the end, you'll see." She said just as Zeke started walking over. Angel stood up and started walking away, then turned back and giggled at me saying "Now could be a good time to start choosing." She winked and continued on to the rink again. I groaned. _You're a great help, Angel!_ I mind-screamed at her, and I saw her shoulders shake. Zeke looked at my face with a strange expression, then shook his head and sat down next to me.

I kept silent as long as I could, and successfully kept my eyes diverted until he cleared his throat and made me look at him. Can we say… _awkward_ much?

"Umm… so…?" I tried to say, but my voice was cracking and gruff. I cleared my throat, too.

"What just happened?" he asked, and I let out a humorless laugh and shook my head.

"I'm not sure." Zeke gave me a strange look again, and looked at his hands that were folded in his lap.

"What about… um…" he hung his head awkwardly, and I looked at the kids, who were still skating around like the crazy people that they were. I knew what he was getting at: the kiss.

"Just forget about it." I told him.

"That's just it Max. I can't." he whispered, and I looked at him. My mouth formed a tiny "o", and I was trying to process what he said. "I can't just forget about that sort of thing. Especially not…. Like that." He turned his head so that he was staring into my eyes, and his bright blue ones trapped me. They were so intense, like a cloudless sky. It was like he was trying to tell me something, but I was missing the point. I really needed to think. I wrenched my eyes from his and stood up, trying to walk away, but the skates made it a little hard.

I had only taken about two steps when a hand grabbed my arm and spun me to face those same blue eyes, and now they were sad.

"You don't get it. Let me explain, Max." He pleaded, but I shook my head.

"Just let me go, please, Zeke. I just need to think." I gave him my "don't mess with me" tone, and he dropped his gaze and my arm.

"Sorry. Go ahead." He breathed, and I felt bad for him. I backed away a little, then went over to the bench with my shoes under them. I was done skating, for sure. I switched my shoes and went into the tiny shop on the side of the rink. There were windows on either side lined with tables. One wall looked into the ice skating rink where the kids were playing, and the other side looked to the outside sidewalk and the building across the street. There was a small concession stand on the far wall. I went and ordered a hot chocolate, just for fun. My fingers were a little cold, anyways.

I sat at a table that looked out to the rink.

Why did guys have to be so confusing? They always send the weirdest messages, and then they take them back and make you think about them. It's all backwards. Why can't they just come out and say what they mean? How bad could it really be?

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and looked over to the window. A large black object was moving past, and it had a pair of skates in its hands. He looked straight ahead, then walked through the door. His face was set in a tough mask, I could tell from the miniscule tightening around the eye I could see, and his jaw was in a set. I knew he could see me out of the corner of his eye, and that was why he wasn't looking over here. He went in and slammed his skates on the counter, making the people behind it jump, and slid on his shoes. I noticed the blonde girl was sitting next to Zeke, and she got up as soon as the door opened and ran over to him. She hugged him, and he barely hugged her back. He was a little busy giving Zeke a death glare, which he returned. Then, like their minds were connected, they turned to stare at me. I quickly put my head down and hunched my shoulders to make it look like I wasn't looking at them.

After a minute, the door opened and the blonde girl sat across from me. Her face was a little sympathetic, but also hard and angry. Her bright blue eyes stared at me, and she put her elbows on the table.

"You're lucky, you know that?" she asked, raising her eyebrows a bit. My brow furrowed, and my mouth opened awkwardly. "I'm Hayden, by the way."

"I'm-"

"Max. I know." She looked down and braided her fingers together on the table.

"How do you know?" I asked, and I saw a tiny smirk form on her lips.

"Fang." One word and I knew exactly how. This was probably the friend he had gone out to see the other day.

"Oh…" I whispered. She nodded.

"He really loves you, Max. He missed you when you were split. He was really depressed when you left him." She accused, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest. I raised my eyebrows.

"_I_ left _him_? That's not the way it went." I scoffed, and it was her turn to raise her eyebrow.

"Really? Then how did it go?" her tone was mean, but also nice, with just a hint of curiosity. She moved again and leaned her elbows on the table and braided her fingers together. I took a drink of my hot chocolate, then a deep breath. She had obviously known Fang for a while, and knew him pretty well, too. He wouldn't open up like that to somebody if he hadn't known them for a while. But if he hadn't told her about our wings, I could blow it by telling the story the real way.

"What has he told you?" I asked just to make sure. She watched something behind me, and slightly shook her head. Before I could turn around she looked at me again and shrugged.

"All he said was that you ran off with some other guy that had hurt him before, and that you wouldn't listen to him when he said to leave him. Then you just ran away without even saying goodbye. Or so Fang said." My jaw tightened when she was talking, and I tried to keep my face emotionless. So he hadn't told her about our wings, and not the whole story either.

"That's not really how it went. Well, partially." I said, crossing my arms. "He was the one to leave me. I did ask another guy to… stay with us for a while, since his parents kicked him out." I lied. "He had hurt Fang, but that was only because he had some major problems with… our relationship. What really happened was that… I invited him over for dinner one night, and Fang wasn't expecting it. He got really mad, and we started yelling at each other, and he walked out." Well, it wasn't the full truth, but it was close enough. She nodded slowly.

"That sounds a bit more like him. I always thought he was keeping something from me." she laughed once without humor, then looked at her hands. I hung my head, debating on why Fang hadn't told her the real story. Hayden noticed that I looked strange, and her brow furrowed. "What is it?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Fang needs to tell you, not me." She narrowed her eyes, and then shook her head slightly.

"This guy… it wasn't the one out there, was it?" she suddenly asked, and her tone was cold.

My eyes went a little wider, and I shook my head hard. She nodded, then looked back out the window. I went to turn around, but she shook her head at me. "I wouldn't, right now. He's pretty upset." I slowly nodded.

"So, how do you know him, anyways?" I questioned.

"He moved here about a year ago, and I met him one day at the store. He had Ig and Gaz with him, and Gaz's friend Miranda. I've just hung out with them ever since." She shrugged, then sat back and got something from her pocket. It was a cell phone, and she stared at the screen after pressing a few buttons. She sighed after a few seconds, then put the phone back in her pocket. "I have to go. My mom is making me do a stupid class thing. Ugh." She rolled her eyes, then scooted out of the booth. "Well, Max. It was nice to finally meet you, after all that Fang talks about you." She gave another laugh, and got a weird gleam in her eyes, then shook her head and smirked. Strange. She held her hand out, and I shook it. Really, who does that anymore? Oh well. I shook it, awkwardly, and she nodded goodbye.

"I would stay in here for a few minutes, just in case. Fang's pretty pissed at that other kid, Zeke, who you were kissing earlier. I wouldn't expect either of them are too friendly right now." She shot me a look, almost sympathetic. Her voice was a little strained, like she was keeping something out of it. I stood up and looked her in the eye, matching her now-steely look.

"I didn't kiss him. He kissed me, alright? I don't think Zeke's… _right_ for me. He's more of a brother."

She nodded. "Yeah. I'll tell that to Fang. He might believe me. He said he really wishes he could take back fighting with you, and maybe get back together. He was really upset earlier when we came in and… um." I blushed. Why did Zeke have to do that?! It just made everything complicated. "So, I'll be going then. Sorry we kinda ruined your day…"

I shook my head. "Nah, it's cool. It was bound to happen, anyways. They were had already hated each other the first time they saw each other."

She nodded thoughtfully. "Mhmm. I need to get out of here, or my mom will kill me if I'm late." I nodded, and she walked out after a final smile at me. Nice girl, actually. I could see what Fang liked about her, and maybe I could get to know her more. I saw her take Fang outside by the hand, him following reluctantly, and she talked to him outside the door for a few minutes. He nodded a few times, and she leaned back on a leg and crossed her arms. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but then she gave him a tight hug and walked out.

My heart panged as Fang stood there, alone, with his head down. He backed up and leaned against the wall. I gulped down the rest of my hot chocolate, then dumped it in a trash can on my way out the door. I was going to go talk to him, but the second I touched the door he turned away and walked of, like he was psycic or something. I scowled, but kept going. I really needed to talk to him. I vaguely heard someone call my name from inside, but I ignored it.

Fang peeked over his shoulder, and saw me. I saw his shoulders visibly slump, and he picked up his pace. He kept going until he found the end of the building and ran in, going faster the whole way. I kept up, and I heard his wings snap open as I was rounding the corner. I was mesmerized for a moment as the sun glinted off his raven wings, but then I ran and jumped as hard as I could. It felt so good to snap my wings out again, since I hadn't done it for a little while.

Fang picked up his pace, and I used a bit of my super speed to catch up and spin in front of him. He wasn't expecting it, and his eyes got wide and he immediately pulled up so he wouldn't crash into me. Then his face slipped back into the deadly glare, and he tried to slip past me but I blocked him every way.

"Leave me alone, Max!" he spat, trying again to get around me. I scowled firmly, and flew closer to him.

"No, Fang. You don't get it." I told him. He shook his head with a disgusted look on his face, and tried again to pass me.

"Just go away! I don't want to talk!" his tone was steel, and the anger was plainly heard. He wasn't meeting my eyes, and he was trying to no avail to get around me. I blocked him every time.

"Fang! Look at me!" I shrieked. He reluctantly met my eyes, coldly. I saw nothing but anger in his midnight black irises, and sighed. "He kissed _me_. I didn't want to kiss him, okay? I don't think about him like that. Hayden said she would say something about it to you." I whispered the last part, and his face softened when I said her name. Did he feel anything for her? He cleared his face and shook his head vigorously and went back to his anger mask.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. I don't care anymore, Max." He hissed, and I was taken aback. My mouth opened soundlessly a few times, and I finally sighed and shut it. I couldn't help but let the hurt show in my eyes, and I dropped a few feet in altitude by forgetting to flap for a second. My heart was pounding, and I took a deep breath. What was that supposed to mean? He looked down to the ground a few thousand feet below us, and his wings faltered a bit. "I programmed your number into my phone, and I'm going to go back to my house. Gazzy and Iggy can stay with you if they like, or they can come back with me. Their choice. Maybe Angel and Nudge can come over, or we can do something together soon. I'll call you sometime, and maybe we can settle this whole problem once and for all." he glanced up and met my eyes, just for a second, and I saw something close to hurt pass through. "Bye, Max. For now, at least." He whispered so quietly it was hard to hear him over the wind.

"Fang…" I strangled out, not able to keep the hurt out of my high pitched voice. I could barely talk, and my throat was starting to feel a little constricted. He met my eyes one last time, and dove downward. All I saw was a black spot that disappeared so quickly I could barely register it was even there, and then it was completely gone.

I hovered there for a few minutes, then started making my way back home. About halfway there, I stopped. I was right above a multi-colored group of fields, and the cold air was starting to nip at my fingers and the exposed parts of my body. Then I sniffed in a breath, snapped my wings in…

And dropped.

**Haha sorry. I just needed to end it, since it was getting so long. And sorry I haven't updated in so long; I couldn't find a real plot of this chapter. I NEED IDEAS!!! PLEASE REVIEW AND GIVE ME ANYTHING YOU HAVE!!! Any review is very much loved, even flames. Till next time…**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	18. Hayden POV

**Sorry its been a while since I updated. I've been pretty busy, but I finally got to writing this. So, I hope you all like it. And happy valentine's day everybody!:) This is going to be in Hayden's POV, just to get an idea of what she feels and how she works. (And this chapter is dedicated to a very special person to me. She should know who she is. ;) )**

**Disclaimer: JP owns it. Not me.**

HAYDEN POV

After we had gotten coffee at the little shop we had met at we went to the rink, got our skates, and tied them up. Not so easy, really. Fang seemed to be in a pretty downed mood for some reason, but he likes to keep those sorts of feelings to himself. They were probably about Max, his old girlfriend who had cheated on him and left him. Or so he had told me. I knew there was something he was keeping from me though, but maybe it was bigger than just his girlfriend leaving him. My heart gave a little twang as I thought of Fang with another girl. I had loved him for quite some time, practically the first time I had met him, but he never knew that. I kept it a secret because I knew he was still a bit sensitive in the girl department.

When we were done tying the skates up I followed him to the arena, and he froze as soon as he got to the edge of the ice. I tried to balance on my skates as he just stood there, staring at something on the ice. His jaw was tight, his lips set in a rough line, and his eyes looked murderous.

"Fang?" I asked, putting my hand on his arm and following his gaze. My eyes widened a bit and my mouth opened. There was a couple in the middle of the ice, kissing. I hated her even more as soon as I figured it out. This must have been Max, his girlfriend. And here she was, kissing another guy. They looked pretty into it, too. Fang tore his arm away from my hand and started stomping down the ramp away from the rink as fast as he could. "Fang!" I shouted without thinking, but he ignored me. I knew I couldn't catch up with him right now, so I just settled for giving the girl a death glare as she broke away from the other guy. He seemed dazed as she stared at Fang's head walking away, then back to me as she started skating fast towards the exit.

She had light brown eyes with long wavy brown hair, and she was wearing simple jeans and a jacket. But that wasn't the thing that made me hate her so much. Of course, she was gorgeous. She was practically a supermodel. She had the body of a supermodel, the face of a supermodel, and she had the arrogance of a supermodel. For her to be out there kissing some other guy, but as soon as she heard me yell to Fang, she was all about him. I gave her the worst death glare I could manage, but she just ignored me and skated out to push past me. I saw the other guy yelling her name and watching her skate off, but then he just gave up and started skating around with the little blond haired boy. I turned around and watched Fang burst through the doors, the clerk yell at him to come back, and Max try to get to him. A little blonde haired girl politely looked up at me and asked me to move, and I obliged. She ran over and grabbed Max's arm before she went out to Fang. She whispered something to her and Max nodded, then went to sit down on one of the benches. The little blonde girl sat down next to her and they started talking for a while, and I walked out of the doorway to the rink to lean against the wall and watch them. I could see Fang outside, just the top of his head, and he was sitting against the wall with his head in his hands and his knees up to his chest. My heart felt like it was twisting in my chest, from seeing him in pain like this. I knew he was trying to sort out himself, trying to forget what he had seen, or at least try to figure out what really had just happened. I sighed and scratched my head.

Suddenly the guy she had been kissing walked out of the arena, keeping his eyes on her as she mumbled to the little girl. It seemed like they were talking silently, and that made me seriously confused. How could they talk silently? I mean, it's not like they could read each other's minds or anything. I scoffed at the thought.

The guy walked over to her and sat down, then the little girl ran off to skate again. When she passed me she looked at me weird, like she was searching me, and I started to get a tiny bit of a headache. Then she turned away and it was gone, just like that. _Strange little girl_, I thought. Suddenly she turned around and glared at me, maliciously, until the darker skinned girl went up to her and they started skating. I shook my head and looked back out the door to Fang. He was still in the same position, only now he was untying the skates roughly. I could tell by the movement of his shoulders.

I saw movement from the bench that Max and the guy were sitting at, and she stood up to walk away. He stood up and grabbed her arm, turning her back to him, and they were staring at each other fiercely. He dropped his head and her arm, and she turned away to the little store in the corner. The guy sat down and dropped his head into his hands. I felt so bad for him, so I walked over and sat next to him. He looked up, surprised, and I noticed just how cute he was. He had amazingly blue eyes, dark brown hair, and an expression that made my heart do a flip. _What? No way. I'm in love with Fang! I don't even know this guy! Why am I even thinking this? _I screamed at myself in my head. I shook my head to get the thoughts out, and noticed the guy was looking at me funny.

"Uh. Hi." I said awkwardly.

"Hi. Um, who are you?" he asked, looking me up and down, which made me uncomfortable.

"I'm Hayden. Fang's friend. What's your name?" I held out my hand to shake, and he shook it awkwardly. When he touched my hand I felt tingles run up my arm, and that made me shiver. His face hardened when I said Fang, and he tried to hide it by nodding quickly and blinking a few times.

"I'm Zeke. Max's friend." He countered, copying me. I smirked and thought: _Well, duh_. He let go of my hand, and we sat there awkwardly for a second.

"What happened, earlier? It was all so confusing, and I got a bit lost." I admitted. He put his elbows on his knees and thought, probably deciding on what to tell me.

"I really am not sure. I mean, I'm in love with this amazing girl, but every time I kiss her she runs away or something happens. It's just, so confusing, and now I'm not sure what to do." He looked at me with questions swirling through his eyes, and I was mesmerized for a moment. I looked down before I completely lost it, and realized I hadn't said anything back to him. Then I wondered why he was confiding this information to a complete stranger, but focused more on the first thing.

"Well, maybe she just doesn't know what to do. Maybe she's scared." I shrugged, not really knowing what to say. I was never the real big advice-giver; I was more of the advice-needer. Zeke scoffed.

"Yeah, right. She is _not _scared. If I know her I know that nothing can make her scared. Except for her family in danger." He muttered the last part to himself, but I was close enough that I could hear it. I was close enough to hear the steady sound of his breathing, and the heat radiating off of his skin.

I mentally slapped myself, then turned back to him. "Maybe that's just it. Maybe she thinks her family is in danger. Like she'll lose everything…" my eyes glazed over as I thought of my previous boyfriend, who had made me think like that. I was afraid of losing my friendship with him, and everything I had going for me, and then I found out he was screwing with other girls. Of course, that didn't sit well with me, and everything had gotten out of hand. I shook my head and looked at Zeke to see him staring intently at the rink, where the multiple children were playing. I couldn't read his face, so I was left in the dark on what he was thinking. Just then the door opened, and I saw the familiar black clothing I had come to know so well. I stood up quickly and pulled him into a hug, and breathed in his familiar scent to get the crazy ideas out of my head about Zeke, and why my heart flipped over when I thought his name. I felt Fang's calloused hands barely touch my waist and pulled back, just to see him staring daggers at Zeke. Then, at the same time, they both looked at the little store where Max had gone in. Talk about creepy. I noticed she was looking at them, then turned around and hunched her shoulders unconvincingly. I looked at Fang again, and he was having trouble keeping his temper in.

"Fang calm down. You'll pop a vein." I joked.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Hayden. Did you not notice that?" he hissed, and I put my hands up.

"Rawr. Ok. I know that, I'm not stupid. I just don't want my best friend to die from popping a vein in his head." I joked yet again, and he shot me a "Just shut it," look. I childishly stuck out my tongue, and knew Zeke was watching this exchange behind me since Fang kept looking back. Fang peeped at Max out of the corner of his eye, and I made a split decision. "I'm going to talk to her." I stated, and Fang and Zeke both stared at me like I was crazy.

"You can't do that! She'll kill you!" Zeke said, but I ignored him.

"I'm going to talk to her and settle this whole situation. Now stay out here like a good boy, and I'll be back in a little while." I used my mother tone, and he just rolled his eyes resignedly. I smirked and headed to the little shop.

I walked in and sat across from her. Her face was surprised to say the least, and I felt my heart squeeze again at how pretty she was. I looked at her and put my elbows on the table.

"You're lucky, you know that?" I asked, raising my eyebrows a bit. Her brow furrowed, and her little mouth opened awkwardly. "I'm Hayden, by the way."

"I'm-"

"Max. I know." I looked down and braided my fingers together on the table.

"How do you know?" She asked, and I smirked a little.

"Fang." Recognition flared in her eyes, and she nodded absently.

"Oh…" She whispered. I nodded.

"He really loves you, Max. He missed you when you were split. He was really depressed when you left him." I accused, leaning back and crossing my arms over my chest defiantly. She raised her eyebrows.

"_I_ left _him_? That's not the way it went." She scoffed, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Then how did it go?" I tried to keep my tone nice, but I was majorly curious, and also mad that she was defending herself. I leaned my elbows on the table and braided my fingers together. She took a sip of the hot chocolate in front of her, then took a deep breath. She seemed to be thinking about something really hard, and debating on what to tell me. That alone made me suspicious.

"What has he told you?" she asked. I noticed Fang appear outside the door, looking at me, and he mouthed "What are you doing?" to me. I shook my head to say "Later," and noticed Max about to turn around. I knew Fang would hate that, so I quickly turned my attention back to her and shrugged, then answered her question.

"All he said was that you ran off with some other guy that had hurt him before, and that you wouldn't listen to him when he said to leave him. Then you just ran away without even saying goodbye. Or so Fang said." Her jaw tightened slightly when I was talking, and it was plain she was trying to keep her face emotionless. She didn't seem to happy about something.

"That's not really how it went. Well, partially." She said, crossing her arms. "He was the one to leave me. I did ask another guy to… stay with us for a while, since his parents kicked him out. He had hurt Fang, but that was only because he had some major problems with… our relationship. What really happened was that… I invited him over for dinner one night, and Fang wasn't expecting it. He got really mad, and we started yelling at each other, and he walked out." I nodded slowly, knowing that wasn't fully what had happened but it sounded more believable than Fang's story.

"That sounds a bit more like him. I always thought he was keeping something from me." I laughed once without humor, then looked at my hands. She hung her head, and I noticed that she had a weird look on her face. My brow furrowed. "What is it?" I asked.

She shook her head quickly. "Fang needs to tell you, not me." I narrowed my eyes, and then shook my head, knowing I would never get it out of either of them.

"This guy… it wasn't the one out there, was it?" I suddenly asked, my tone cold. I couldn't stand the thought of that, but maybe it would explain why they hated each other so much.

Her eyes got wide, and she shook her head vigorously. I nodded, then looked back out the door behind her. Fang was yelling at Zeke, and I was surprised just how we couldn't hear them. Fang yelled one last thing at Zeke, then turned to me with a murderous expression. I knew just how mad he was, and I was worried that some day he could actually lose his control and kill somebody. I shivered at that thought. Max went to turn around, but I shook my head at her quickly. "I wouldn't, right now. He's pretty upset." She slowly nodded, thinking something over.

"So, how do you know him, anyways?" she suddenly questioned.

"He moved here about a year ago, and I met him one day at the store. He had Ig and Gaz with him, and Gaz's friend Miranda. I've just hung out with them ever since." I shrugged, then sat back and got my phone from my pocket. It was my mom, telling me to get my butt out of the rink and into my car to get to that stupid dance class she had me going to. I sighed, then put it back in my pocket. "I have to go. My mom is making me do a stupid dance class thing. Ugh." I rolled my eyes dramatically, then scooted out of the booth. "Well, Max. It was nice to finally meet you, after all that Fang talks about you." I gave another laugh, thinking about all the times he had confided in me to tell me about how much he had missed her and how he wished he could take everything back. Those were the nights I took the worst, since it made it practically crystal clear to me that he didn't love me the way I loved him. I hated that feeling of emptiness I had when he talked to me about her, this gorgeous girl sitting across from me. I had to admit, I was jealous. I wanted myself to be the gorgeous girl and her to be the jealous friend, but that wasn't going to happen. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and smirked at myself. I held my hand out, and she shook it awkwardly, like she didn't know what to really do with it.

I nodded goodbye, and began to walk out before I remembered something. "I would stay in here for a few minutes, just in case. Fang's pretty pissed at that other kid, Zeke, who you were kissing earlier. I wouldn't expect either of them are too friendly right now." I shot me an almost sympathetic look, but not quite. I tried to keep the pain from my voice about how he must be feeling, and the dislike about what she had done. She stood up and looked me in the eye, matching my hard look equally, though she was about two inches shorter than me.

"I didn't kiss him. He kissed me, alright? I don't think Zeke's… _right_ for me. He's more of a brother." Her expression changed when she was talking, and that told me she was telling the truth.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'll tell that to Fang. He might believe me. He said he really wishes he could take back fighting with you, and maybe get back together. He was really upset earlier when we came in and… um." She blushed a cherry red. "So, I'll be going then. Sorry we kinda ruined your day…" and I really was sorry. But I was sort of glad I finally got to meet this girl.

She shook her head. "Nah, it's cool. It was bound to happen, anyways. They were had already hated each other the first time they saw each other."

I nodded thoughtfully, wondering what that was about and how it had happened. "Mhmm. I need to get out of here, or my mom will kill me if I'm late." She nodded, and I gave her a little smile and walked out.

So, it seemed like Fang had some explaining to do. What was the thing that Max had said about him needing to tell me instead, and why he hadn't told me the right story. I searched for him and found him sulking by the door and glaring at Zeke, who was talking to the little blonde haired boy about something.

I quickly grabbed Fang's hand and pulled him outside. I crossed my arms and leaned on my leg, and he just raised an eyebrow. He was so adorable like that. I just stood there looking at him until he snapped.

"What?" he growled. I raised my eyebrow.

"Why didn't you tell me the real story?! The entire thing you told me was a lie, partially, and now I don't know what else to think about all the stuff you've told me if you lied about something like this!" I said, trying to stop myself from shouting. He looked down, embarrassed.

"I didn't want to tell you all about it. Some things needed to be kept a secret." He mumbled.

"That makes no sense, Fang! Why did you tell me she walked out on you when you really walked out on her?"

He sighed. "Because."

"Because _why_? I need a little more than that to work with here." I was starting to get really impatient with him.

"Because it's embarrassing! It makes me look like a complete and total jerk, too! And she was the one to invite that stupid kid with us anyways! She should have just left him there to die!" he shouted, and I was startled by his sudden outburst. Did he just say die? What does that have to do with anything? And what aren't they telling me?

"Okay, wait a minute. First of all that's sad that you would lie to me because you didn't want to look like a jerk, and what's with leaving the _kid_ to _die_?" I asked, outraged. His eyes got wide, and his mouth dropped open a little, surprised at something. This was incredible. What else had he kept from me? "Max only said that she invited him to stay with you for a little while…"

"Uh… um… well, he was…. Uh…" he stuttered, then let out a hefty breath and ran a hand through his black hair.

"Fang, what haven't you been telling me? Max said that you had to tell me something, by yourself. What is it?" my voice softened as I took a step closer to him. He met my eyes, and I saw regret, pain, and sadness in them. Usually his eyes were never this emotional or open, so I blinked and searched his eyes again. Whatever he wasn't telling me, it was obviously something big. He was taking deep breaths, with his muscular shoulders moving up and down.

"It's really, really complicated, Hayden. I can't tell you here, in the open, but I swear next time I get the chance I will, okay? I just need you to trust me that I don't lie to you on purpose; I do it to protect myself." he stared into my eyes, and I nodded helplessly. He was telling me the truth, and I was really starting to get frustrated about all of this. He was keeping something major from me, something he couldn't risk out in the open, and that scared me a little bit.

But of course, our little moment of truth had to be ruined by my mom reminding me about my stupid dance class. I sighed and ignored the buzzing phone in my pocket, giving Fang a hug.

"I have to go, but promise me you'll call and find a time we can meet again. I haven't seen you much lately, and now I'm really curious about this whole situation." He nodded, and hugged me back a little.

"I'm sorry." He whispered in my ear, and I nodded and pulled back.

"I'll see you later, Fang." I said, and walked over to my car. It was all the way across the parking lot, so it took me a few minutes to get to it and get in. But, as soon as I got to the turn out of the lot, I saw something pass over my head.

I looked up to see the huge black bird-like animal I had seen the other day at the ice cream shop, and now there was another bird-like thing chasing it. They were absolutely huge, the biggest bird I had ever seen, but now I was wondering if they even were birds. Then, I noticed something. The first one, the black one, had something flapping on his side, and the second one had something flapping around its head. I squinted, and noticed that these birds had longer feet than usual, they were extremely fast, and they were bulky. Suddenly, all the pieces fit together.

No. No way.

**Ok, sorry about the little cliffy-ish thing, but I hope you liked it. I really wanted to make this Hayden's POV to see her view on things, and I don't really know what'll happen in the next chapter when we head back to the free-falling Max. Any ideas, feel free to suggest them to me. I would love them.:) Happy valentine's day, again, and hope you all had a good holiday weekend. **

**BoOk-NeRd38**


	19. Memories

**I am so, so, so, SO sorry about not updating. It's just that there has been a lot going on right now, like the end of the trimester, and I haven't had any time. So, I am so very, very sorry for not updating soon enough. To make up for it, I'll try to make this a long chapter. But I need ideas! I was a little stuck at this part, and so if anybody has any ideas at all, please say them. No idea will be put down! **

**By the way, has anyone else read FANG? Because it's awesome. Not as long as I would hope, and a little odd, but still good. I advise you all read it. :) Now, onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: JP owns, not some -x- year old girl who goes by the penname of BoOk-NeRd38.**

As I fell, my hair whipped around my face and felt like it was slicing up my features and turning them into a big fat mess. I closed my eyes, loving the feeling of just dropping through the air and forgetting everything that was happening in my life right now. I thought of the better things that had happened, before any of this drama showed up and screwed with my life.

_Flashback _

_I peeked around the trees, making sure my target was still there, and looked around him to see if anyone had seen me. There was nobody in sight, and I smiled to myself. Perfect. _

_I stood up, quiet as a mouse, and ran to the other tree silently, dodging the slits of sun that flowed through the trees. He didn't suspect a thing, just sitting there carving something into the branch he was sitting on. I jumped up and landed on the branch closest to his that he wouldn't see me, careful not to let my wings touch any part of any tree, in case a branch snapped or created a sound that could give me away. He didn't even look up, but I thought I saw him tense a little. He just continued carving. _

_I was getting anxious, and I looked down at the bulge under my shirt. It was a bright pink water balloon, and it was filled as much as it could handle. I had hid it under my shirt so he wouldn't see it, up until now. I slowly took it out, aimed it at Fang's head, and cocked my arm back to throw it at him. He hadn't been part of our water war yet, but he was going to be soon. He never backed down from a fight if I started it. _

_Suddenly I felt something cold and wet splat against my back, and I was so surprised I let out a squeak. Fang's head immediately snapped up, only to see me lose my balance and fall from the tree. I saw Iggy flying above the tree I was in, clutching his stomach and laughing at me as I fell from my branch. I saw Fang laughing too, as I twisted in the air and landed on the ground on my back. I saw a little pink ball flying through the air and realized I had lost my balloon, but just a little too late. It landed right on my stomach, exploding all over me and soaking the rest of my body when I tried to curl in a ball to cover myself from my own weapon._

_I sat up, spitting out some dirt that landed in my mouth and looking at the damage my balloon had made. I found a few pieces of the shrunken balloon next to me on the dirt. _

_Iggy and Fang couldn't stop laughing. They both were leaning over and clutching their stomachs, tears flowing down their faces. Fang was trying to explain to Ig what had happened, but he was laughing too hard. I glared at both of them, which was wasted on Iggy, and stood up. I jumped into the air to try and dry off a little, and to go find two more balloons to get them back._

_(~~~~~~)_

"_Oof!" I coughed, sucking in air as someone jumped on my stomach. They weren't really that heavy, but they kept jumping up and down, keeping the needed air out of my lungs. I finally managed to open my eyes, only to see a little blond whirl of curls in front of my face. Angel stopped jumping on me and just sat on my stomach, smiling happily with her two front teeth missing._

"_Happy birfday Max!" she squealed. I caught my breath and looked around, seeing the rest of my family clouded in my room. They all had a wrapped gift in their hand, giving me broad smiles. Iggy had a mischievous look on his face, and he smiled even wider when he felt me looking at him. I'll never know how he does that._

"_1, 2, 3!" he shouted, and my eyes went wide. _No, no, no, pleasedon't_-_

"_Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!" I groaned as they sang as bad as they could, just to get on my nerves. It was a flock joke. "Happy birthday dear Ma-ax…. Happy birthday to you!"_

"_You look like a monkey…." Gazzy sang, and I groaned again. "And you smell like one too!" the rest joined in, then burst out laughing as I scowled fiercely at them. Angel was laying across my legs clutching her stomach, tears rolling down her cheeks from laughing so hard. I didn't really see how that was so funny…._

"_Your… face… was… _hilarious_!" Angel said between giggles, and then burst into another fit as the others nodded in agreement. I rolled my eyes but smiled, rolling the laughing girl off my legs and swinging my feet off the bed. The cold tingled my toes, and I readjusted my pj pants and tank top. _

_I pushed past a laughing Iggy and Nudge, and quickly strode to the bathroom before they could catch me. I shut the door and locked it quickly, sighing in relief as I heard their footsteps retreating back into the kitchen for breakfast. _

_So, today was my birthday, obviously. I was a year older, but it didn't seem to make me feel any different. I was now fourteen. I was the leader of the flock, since Jeb had left us about a two years ago, and I was the oldest. Fang and Iggy were right behind me, though. We still weren't sure exactly when my birthday really was, so I had decided about two weeks ago that it was time for more birthdays. After mine it would be Fang, then Iggy, Nudge, The Gasman, and last, Angel. All a year older. Growing up._

_I didn't like to wallow in that information, because these were my babies. I was responsible for them, helping them with their decisions and practically being their parent. It was a lot to put on a fourteen year olds shoulders._

_I smiled at the thought. I had been thirteen for long enough._

_I stared at myself in the mirror. I didn't look different, and didn't feel different, but I knew inside that I was different. More wise. More in charge. I don't really know. I knew the real feeling hadn't fully settled in my gut yet, but it would. I would just have to wait for it. _

_I washed my face with cold water and quickly took a shower, making sure I looked okay because I knew Nudge would have found the small digital camera we owned that I had hidden from her when she went on a total picture-spree. Let's just say, there were many pictures on there that could have been used as blackmail._

_I had forgotten to grab some clothes, so I quickly opened the door to check if the coast was clear, then sprinted to my room in my pjs. Safely in I changed into my usual jean and T-shirt, then crept out into the kitchen, preparing to be bombarded. Birthdays were a big deal in the flock._

_When she saw me, Nudge bolted into the living room and snatched a brightly wrapped present off of the pile, which I cringed at, and ran back to start shoving the gift in my face while jumping up and down._

"_Open mine! Open mine! Oh pleaaasssee Max open mine first! I made it specially for you with my own two hands! Of course Angel helped, but I mean it was my idea and I found the fabric at the store when you weren't looking. Oops I shouldn't have said that because I probably jus-" thankfully, Angel and Gazzy slapped their hands over her mouth before she gave me a big headache. She mumbled the rest of her sentence into their hands, then shrugged her shoulders and gave me an apologetic look when they removed their hands. I smiled at her. _

"_After we eat breakfast, Nudge. Then we can do presents." Her face dropped when I said it for a split second, then lightened back up immediately._

"_Alright." She chirped, then skipped to the table. Fang rolled his eyes, and they all turned to follow Nudge. _

_We ate a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns, and juice, all made by Iggy. None of them ever even let me near the kitchen utensils, because of one incident that had happened years ago. Fang still had a scar._

_When we were done, Ig brought out a giant chocolate cake, and I was practically drooling when he set it on the table. But I didn't let anyone eat it. Hey, I needed to be strict with these kids. If I let them eat cake early in the morning, what kind of parent would I be? Plus, I would be seriously paying for it later. Though cake at night didn't do much, either, it was a little more acceptable. _

_They all grumbled and Gazzy stuck his tongue out at me, but then Nudge and Angel started jumping up and down about opening presents. Gazzy and Iggy looked mischievous, which scared me. Fang just looked like… Fang. Impassive and bored. But I could see a tiny muscle on his lips that were twitching, fighting a smile. Hmm…_

_We all sat down, and everybody grabbed their own present and sat in a circle around me. Nudge and Angel were practically shaking with excitement, smiling up at me from the floor. I saw the digital camera in Nudge's hand, as I predicted, but I didn't fight it. She might as well get her fill now, I would just have to delete them later. Fang sat next to me on the couch, close enough to feel the heat coming off his skin, but not close enough that it was awkward. Iggy and Gaz sat across from Angel and Nudge, looking at each other and then back at me._

"_Max you have to open mine first!!" Nudge said, and I hoped she hadn't made me something extremely girly, but of course that was too much to hope for. She handed me her wrapped gift and I opened it. The first thing I saw was the fabric. It was soft and had a light blue, lime green, and white polka dotted pattern over it. I pulled it out of the rest of the package, and saw it was a dress. I would never wear it, of course. It had thick tank top straps, and gathered in the middle, then flared out into the bottom. There was a strip of thick blue string that matched the light blue dots and went around the gathered section under the bust. It was amazingly well sewn, for a ten year old. I peeked around the dress at Nudge, who was staring up at me expectantly._

"_Nudge, this is amazing. How did you sew it so well?" it really was amazing. I totally would have worn it, had I not been myself. She beamed as I talked, and I was afraid her face might just stay that way she was smiling so huge._

"_You like it?" she squeaked._

"_Yeah, it's beautiful." I nodded, and her and Angel squealed together. I was getting sick of the squealing._

"_You need to go try it on!" Angel said to me. I guessed she hadn't heard that I was never going to wear it._

"_No, guys, really, I don't know…" but it was no use. They had already jumped up and grabbed my hands, dragging me back down the hall to the bathroom. They shoved me in there and told me I wouldn't come back out until I had the dress on. And they also made me promise to wear it all day. _

_I grumbled the whole time, but I eventually got it on. It was pretty comfortable, but it was still a dress. I never wear dresses. They're impossible to do anything in, especially fly. Really, who wants someone behind you looking up your skirt? I made a mental note not to go flying today. When I looked in the mirror, I had to say it actually looked pretty good. It hugged my practically non-existent curves, and made it look like I actually had some. My legs felt extremely exposed, as the dress came to my knees and poofed out above it. _

_I sighed as I opened the door, and refrained from giving Nudge and Angel a glare for putting me in this situation. But they had worked hard on this, so I had to be nice to them. As soon as I stepped out of the door I saw a flash go off, vowing I would crush that thing when I got my hands on it. I walked into the living room behind them, and they stuck out their arms and went "Ta-da!" as I walked in. I felt my cheeks go on fire and Fang smirked at me, Iggy wolf-whistled (he had no idea what I looked like, he just did that to annoy me), and Gazzy laughed so hard he cried. When I walked past them I smacked Iggy and Gazzy on the head, which shut them up. This was so embarrassing. More embarrassing than the time my pants ripped when we were learning how to fly._

You look beautiful, Max_. Angel's voice filled my head, and it was surprising to hear it. She had just learned how to project her thoughts, and it took a lot of her energy, so she rarely did it. I looked at her, surprised, and she smiled up at me. I had no choice but to smile back. She thought I looked beautiful? That was new. I shook my head._

_From Iggy, Angel, and Gazzy I got a new black sweatshirt, a lamp for my room, and a blank sketchbook pad. Nudge took her fill of pictures with every gift when I least expected it. And now it was Fang's turn. I turned towards him expectantly, and he reached behind him to pull out a tiny white box with just a mini red bow on the lid. He handed it to me slowly, and I felt everybody's stare at the box. I had an odd feeling in my gut, and I had no idea why. _

_I slowly lifted the lid, only for there to be a little white piece of fluff. I pulled that off, and below was a key chain. The key ring was metal and storebought, but nothing else was. There was a wooden hand carved wing hanging on the small chain, and a string of beads next to it. There were six, all different colors. They were meant to represent our family. There was a hot pink one (Nudge), a light blue one that was almost white (Iggy), a dark green one (the Gazman), a black one (Fang), a light purple one (Angel), and a dark magenta one (me). It was simple, but it was pretty. The wing was detailed and just plain wood, but it looked fresh from a tree right outside. It was one of those things that had more sentimental value than anything else._

_I looked up to see all of my family watching me intently, watching for my expression. Even Iggy had his pale eyes fixed on my forehead, waiting for the others to react. I looked back at the keychain in amazement, and wondered why they would do something like this for me. _

"_This is so amazing, guys. I love it." I smiled at them. I was doing a little too much of that today; my cheeks were going to be sore lately._

_Again, they smiled at me. _

"_Fang worked really hard on the wing! He spent so many hours in his room at night that he hasn't gotten any sleep for weeks! He wanted it to be perfect for you, Max." Angel smiled up at me, and I looked at Fang's face to see the slightest bit of color in his cheeks. Barely noticeable to anybody else, but I knew him so well that I could tell the slightest change. He was blushing! No way. I nudged him with my shoulder playfully, and he nudged me back. _

"_Hold it up! I want to see it!" Gazzy whined, craning his neck to see the box. I lifted it up to show him, and he awed at it. "Nice work, Fang." He complimented. I also let Ig feel it, and he also complimented him on his work._

"_Okay, everyone up. We need at least one good photo of the whole family! Don't fight it, Max!" she got up and pulled my hand up, and we all got together and actually got a nice picture of all of us. i decided to not delete that one, for once._

_(~~~~~~)_

I opened my eyes, and saw the ground much closer than I thought. I gasped slightly and forgot about my little sentimental memories, and whipped out my wings. The air caught and my wings felt like they were being ripped out of their sockets, worse than it normally was. I wasn't slowing down, and the ground was getting closer and closer dangerously. I pushed down with my wings as hard as I could, but I wasn't getting any slower.

The ground had some trees scattered around, with a bunch of dead logs between them, with green bushes and shrubs filling the rest of the space. Mostly spiky, scary looking shrubs.

I managed to slow down a little bit, but not enough to make a nice, soft landing. So, I ended up tumbling through some bushes and over some logs, and finally came to a stop as I rolled, on my side, straight into a tree. My wings were mostly pulled in, but it felt like there could be some broken bones in there. I definitely had at least one broken rib, maybe two or three. My thigh was on fire, and when I looked down my jeans were soaked red, and I noticed a hole in the middle of my leg. My face and arms had scrapes all over them, and every bone in my body felt either bruised or shattered. I dropped my head back onto the ground and groaned as I realized I was stuck in a prickly bush. Here I was, in the middle of nowhere, with my leg all bloody and most likely broken, in a bush.

Way to go, Max.

**I am so absolutely sorry about not updating! It's just my life has been really hectic these past weeks, and I've had barely any time to write. And I know this isn't really a good chapter, and it's sort of pathetic, but I made it as long as I could for you. Though it probably won't be satisfying to anybody, if there's even anybody reading this story still. For all of you out there that still are, thank you so much! And I know this probably won't make anybody really happy, or even work at all, but I would like at least 10 reviews this time! And if it really does work, I promise to have a new chapter up by next week! I need some ideas to help me a little, and I would love anybody's suggestions about anything in the story. I hope I haven't made everybody mad at me because of this, and I'm sorry if I did. **

**Please review!**

**BoOk-NeRd38**


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